The loudspeaker blared, jolting me awake. „Wake up you descendants of lazy vat grown factory clones, which were dismissed for untrainable stupidity!“ I groaned as I realized the downside of having a personal computer terminal in such close quarters. Every computer had a build in loudspeaker. With emphasis on loud.

I sat up, making sure not to hit my head on the low ceiling. I remembered the wake-up drill we had to memorize during the application process. At the wakeup signal, we were to line up before our capsule beds. We were to go in our pajamas… or as the handbook called it: our Sleep Uniform. A form-fitting two-piece set that could be worn inside a space suit if needed.

I opened the door to my capsule and peeked outside. The capsules were stacked in rows of five, with two walls facing each other for a total of thirty capsules per row. Luckily, I had been assigned a ground-level capsule. I crawled out and was nearly bowled over by Delfi, who had just descended the ladder from the capsule above mine. She launched into a furious tirade, „Clone descendants! My family doesn't have a single modified gene, and everyone we want to marry is thoroughly checked. This is outrageous!“

„Calm down. The drill sergeant doesn’t mean it personally…”

My attempt to soothe her, was cut short by someone screaming right into my ear on the top of his lungs: „If I say something, I always mean it! And I mean it quite personally!”

I jumped back, stumbled over the blonde cadet right next to me, causing us to fall to the floor. Our legs tangled together, until one of hers gave way. Something cracked audibly. It was not a happy sound. While my left ear was still ringing from our drill sergeant, my other ear was assaulted by an equally loud, but much higher pitched scream. I stumbled backward, crawling on my hands and feet. And maybe I stepped on one of blondies breasts…

„Sorry! Didn’t see you! Are you hurt?” In hindsight, that was a stupid question, considering I could clearly see one of her leg bones sticking out through the skin. I had once heard of a professional roofer who worked on windy rooftops for years without accident. Then while doing housework, he stumbled over his vacuum cleaner cable and broke his leg in three places. This seemed equally unreal.

Before I could say something more appropriate and apologize, I was forcefully picked up by the thick necked marine drill sergeant: „If you can’t even form a line without taking casualties, you don’t need enemies. In fact, I recommend you join our enemies! That way your incompetence will be of at least some use!”

He stood me on the wall and continued by lifting blondie up as well. Not caring for her whimpering or the obviously broken leg. He held her until she had all of her weight on her good leg. Which wasn’t much, considering she looked frail and thin, like one of those starved European models. He pointed his finger on her breastbone and barked: „Who let a glass-boned stick of a girl on my ship? What is your name anyway?”

„I’m not a…”

His face darkened sufficiently, so that even blondie couldn’t miss the cue.

„Sir, Savanna Joevaughn, Sir.”

He turned to me, and his mood did not seem to improve in the least.

„And you?”

„Sir, Macro Aranis, Sir.”

He spun around pointing at Delfi.

„You?”

„Sir, Delfi O’Malley, Sir… But, what do I have to do with…”

„Silence! You know about our mandatory pairing? Well, you three consider yourself paired. Remember the team-rule: If all succeed, good. If one fails or steps out of line… or maims his comrades… all are failed. I look forward to seeing you go. The sooner the better.”

I took a moment to get my bearing while he continued his rant. „Hey! The teams are supposed to be chosen randomly! And they are teams of four…”

I immediately regretted drawing back attention to myself. All of this shouting had drawn the attention of everyone in my corridor and even from the one on right over the next corridor. Which contained the capsule beds for the boys. They were, of course, expressly forbidden to come into the girl’s side. It had been a very explicit order by General Hawk. Underscored by terrible threads of never-ending torment… followed by expulsion. Which didn’t seem to stop a few students from some the more powerful families to come looking around the corner. Led by, who else, Malfeasony.

The drill sergeant seemed to be about to start a new storm of spittle right into my face, when he realized my attention had drifted elsewhere. He pointed at the law firm progeny without even looking: „You there! Thank you for volunteering. You are number four of this team of miscreants. Don’t start unpacking, you will be leaving soon.”

I couldn't help but think how absurd his last statement was. We all had standardized luggage that fit perfectly under our capsule beds, and no one had anything to unpack. The second thought that crossed my mind was whether Screams-a-lot was aware of who he had added to our team. But soon enough, he would find out.

„You there, boy. State your name for the record,“ he barked at Malfeasony.

„Sir, Malfeasony di Carmelo, Sir.“

For a split second, Screams-a-lot's eye twitched, but he quickly regained his composure. „Well, well, well, if it isn't a member of our most beloved law firm. Congratulations. Are you excited to carry these miscreants on your back to the finish line?“

„Sir, I'll carry them on one foot, Sir,“ Malfeasony replied.

„Now that's the spirit, my son,“ Screams-a-lot said with a smirk.

He then, quite late, remembered to use his intercom to call for some medics. While the others left for the mess hall, he held us back. My guess was, for some more yelling. But he held his volume in check. Most probably because he couldn’t scream while smiling so menacingly.

He pointed at me, Delfi, Savanna and Malfeasony in turn. „Soldiers need battle call-signs. You lot, I will call Havoc, Stoplight, Twig and Nosy. Dismissed.”

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He marched off to round up the rest of the contestants. We four were left standing. I was totally confused. Delfi recovered the fastest: „Stoplight? Is this guy serious? Why Stoplight?”

„Well… your red hair? Duh?” I offered.

„Yeah. Sure. But there are hundreds of nicknames for reds. Why Stoplight?”

At that point four soldiers arrived with a stretcher. Three had the red cross of field medics on their breast, the fourth wore a more elaborate golden cross on white. I took a second to remember the according rank, but Twig, I mean Savanna, was quicker to react. „A military chaplain? Do I look like I need the last rites?“ she quipped.

„No ma’am. But the sergeant indicated there might be need for psychological counseling,” the chaplain replied calmly.

„Get me some painkillers and a gun to shoot this menace here who broke my leg,” Savanna snapped back.

„Ma'am, that is not the best way to speak about your fellow team members,“ the chaplain admonished gently.

„How do you know we're on the same team?“ Savanna challenged.

He pointed to the flashing interface slot on his temple, indicating that he had some kind of information feed active.

I couldn't resist. As soon as they left for the hospital, I pivoted towards my storage compartment and opened it with a simple gesture of my right hand. Sensors detected the signal from the ID chip implanted in my hand. One common scene in the historical dramas I loved was the protagonist frantically searching for their keys while being pursued by enemies. Since the law firm Trump & Hussein had successfully eliminated most privacy protection laws, everyone received an implant with their tenth birthday. Prior to that, we had to rely on keycards or wristbands. My thoughts returned to the present as I found what I had been seeking in a separate compartment of my luggage: my smart goggles. I donned them and pressed the auto-connect button. Within seconds, I was connected to the station's WLAN. Icons appeared above each person in my field of vision, displaying their rank, name, team designation, and call sign. While most people only had their name and rank shown, our newly-formed team was already registered in the station's database. However, I could only see Savanna's back as the medics had ignored her complaints and whisked her away on a stretcher towards the infirmary. „Rooky, Savanna Joevaughn, Team 01, Call sign: Twig”

A hand snatched my googles away. I suppressed a cry of outrage as Malfeasony hastily put them in my bag and shoved back it in its compartment.

„What…”

He turned back to me, took my head in both hands and whispered: „Are you stark raving mad? You can’t just link into the secure station network!”

„I didn’t do anything wrong… Wait a minute… How do you know…”

He pointed at his eyes: „I could see you locking into a stable data connection. And you didn’t appear in the official free network. There is only one other net on the whole station.”

„You can see data flows? No… you can detect radio waves? And you have a data link projecting data into your retina…”

He shushed her. „Not so loud! I don’t want everyone to know about my implants.”

That couldn’t stop me in full Sherlock mode, as my father used to call it: „That combination is only available in very few systems. We have all been scanned at the ground station before entering the lift, so the military knows about it. That rules out any kind of black-market tech and all kinds of custom builds… And anything that would be vulnerable by EMP or jamming. That leaves only… You have a military grade tactical computer implant? Damn!”

„Would you shut up already!” He was still talking quite softly, but was getting more agitated by the second. He obviously regretted saying too much, but it was too late.

I crossed my arms: „Would you please remember you are still in the female sleeping area. Which will soon be teeming with half clad women coming out of the showers…”

He immediately forgot his worries and started grinning like a madman.

Delfi’s elbow hit my side, reminding me she was still here: „You’re going at this the wrong way.” She turned to Malfeasony: „If one of the officers finds you here, being paired with us is going to be the least of your worries. Shuh!”

His grin didn’t fade in the least, but he took a mocking bow to Delfi, turned around and left.

We hurried to also take a quick shower. A small cargo transport went by and placed named boxes with our new uniforms before our capsules. I dressed and had to wait for Delfi, who had an undefinable expression on her face, while looking in a small hand mirror. In my mind a strange choice to bring in our severely limited luggage space. I took a hard look at her face. „Seems to be ok. No acne as far as I can see.”

„The short haircut, I can live with. But I'm still not used to not wearing make-up. This is awful. I can't run around with all those freckles.”

„But they look so cute.”

„I hate looking cute. Who's going to take a spotted redhead serious?”

„They will, as soon as you have proven to be competent.” I smiled at her: „I have a gut feeling, you can be really hardball.”

„You think so? Well, we better get going.”

As soon as everyone was dressed, we were marched to the mess hall to get a bowl of undefinable tasteless gruel. Or, as they called it, breakfast.

I barely managed to eat a few spoonfuls before an officer ordered us to collect the bowls and tableware. I was given a rag and a bucket of disinfectant to clean the tables. Once the hall was spotless, we had to line up for inspection. Having recently received our new uniforms, we all made an effort not to ruin them. I was confident that I could dress quickly and efficiently, but as it turned out, I was wrong.

Sir-screams-a-lot checked our line with a thoroughly bored expression. When he passed me, his face took on a surprised look, then changed to incongruity. I glanced down and saw that there was a whole spoonful of gruel on my trouser leg.

„Is this supposed to be a joke? Do they now send me children who can't eat without a napkin? You're wearing this uniform for a whole of fifteen minutes! It's a pity I already named you Havoc. Sudden Nova! That's what comes from trying to be nice on a recruit’s first day. On second thought a much too militaristic callsign. And just because Public Nuisance and Loser are already taken. Napkin would have been more fitting. Sadly, custom forbids me from changing a call-sign, so you're safe.”

The boy sitting beside me made a serious mistake by snickering, which Screams-a-lot did not take kindly. „Do you find this amusing? Is this some sort of space sitcom for you? Well, you'll be called Napkin from now on. It would be a shame not to use such a witty call-sign,” he declared, turning his attention back to me. „As for you, give me twenty.”

„I don't have my purse with me, but I can transfer the credits as soon as...” I wished that my response was a witty retort, a clever comeback to the officer's command. But the reality was that my space jetlag had me confused and flustered. I realized my mistake as soon as the words left my mouth.

The officer exploded. „Do you want to mock me!?!” I wished for earplugs as spittle flew from his mouth. „Down and give me twenty... By which I mean thirty pushups.”

I got on all fours as fast as I could and started. I knew I could do thirty. It would push me to my limits, but I could do it.

„You call those pushups? Do you want to mock me? I will start counting as soon as you start doing them proper. Ok, one... two, but only because I don’t want to spend here all day... three... four...”

This bastard only counted about every third pushup I did. My arms ached, my muscles cramped, and my vision blurred. I needed to do this. I would do this. Or die trying. I shut out everything else. I had few skills useful for military life, but my father taught me concentration techniques since I was about six years old. Just this one movement. Up and down. Pain was irrelevant. Tiredness was irrelevant. Nothing else mattered. I barely heard the drill sergeants voice: „Enough! I said thirty! Get up.”

I stood up, still dazed, and returned to the line.

The drill sergeant thankfully chose someone else to torment. When he was at the other end of the line, screaming into some poor other fellow, someone next to me nudged me in the side. It was Delfi. „I think Twiggy smeared that food on your leg when we lined up. I'd seen that stain if it had been there before. Yellow on dark maroon. Totally out of style. Really hurts the eye.”

I nodded weakly, still too exhausted to even get angry. It was an effort to just keep standing upright.

„Nice show, by the way. I counted at least forty-five totally acceptable pushups. And you went on for three past him counting thirty.”

I managed a weak „Thanks.”