On the next day, the excitement and action dwindled down as we underwent a basic space station security drill. It was a repeater course, but we still had to sit through three hours of listening to a bored instructor recite information from a brochure that even I had already memorized. We learned about the different siren signals and the required reactions for each. The lecture was so tedious that Delfi started to doze off, but I nudged her back to wakefulness.
Meanwhile, one of the guys in our class, who looked like he could have been a jock in a 21st century TV show, wasn't as lucky. As the monotonous drone of the teacher's lecture filled the classroom, he gradually succumbed to the soothing rhythm of the lesson. His eyelids grew heavier with each passing moment until, eventually, his head gently sank onto the surface of his desk. His breathing softened into a steady rhythm as he drifted into the realm of dreams, oblivious to the world around him. I expected his group members to wake him, but the other three guys didn't bother to wake him up and instead snickered and pointed. I’d have tried to wake him myself, but he was too far away to reach without our teacher noticing.
A few minutes later our instructor changed the subject mid-sentence. He was just reading the required check list for donning a vacuum suit: „...make sure the head-up screen is on and clearly readable. Confirm Wi-Fi connection is on. Keep connection at all times, while in range of the stations system. Group twenty-seven, please return your uniforms and get your civilian clothes before you leave with the shuttle in seventeen hours. You may spend the time in one of the study room or your sleeping cubicle, whichever you prefer. After finishing the final check list, signal your readiness to the air-lock controller.”
One of the jocks group members sat up straighter: „Wait... what?”
„So, you're not asleep as well. I was wondering. Now wake up Mr. Brown and leave quietly.”
„What did I do? I didn't do anything!”
The instructor's voice was firm and commanding as he addressed the group. „You were all instructed to pay attention to these very important safety instructions. While falling asleep may be understandable given the circumstances, failing to immediately wake your team member is not. We are not in high school anymore, this is deadly serious. Team grouping is not simply to speed up the sorting process, it is essential for survival in the Space Marine Corps. The ability to work well with others is paramount. Please leave quietly now. It would reflect poorly on your record if you had to be forcibly removed from the station.“
They left without another word, except for a quick explanation to the now rudely awakened jock. Judging by the sounds of their argument that we could hear even through the walls, he did not take the news well.
After that, we were separated by teams and ushered into small cramped rooms, each barely large enough for four chairs surrounding a table just big enough for four small screens and keyboards. We were given the rest of the day to get acquainted with each other and fresh up our knowledge of the Space Handbook.
Everyone trying for a place with the corps had been studying those rules and procedures for years. Except of course for me, who hadn’t even thought of leaving good old mother earth, until my father informed me of the reasons why one of our family absolutely had to get on the academy station. And why it had to be me. So, I had less than half a year to apply, train and learn things like: „Five reasons not to open a door.”
I opened my eyes to look at the sheet with the answers, but Delfi snatched it from my lap: „No! At least try to remember. This is important. And there will be a test tomorrow. One could think you're learning this for the first time. This is basic stuff. Even one wrong answer will get you grounded back to earth. And maybe our whole group as well.”
„I... think I sort of accidentally skipped some of the basics...” I muttered, to which Malfeasony raised his eyebrow incredulously: „You're not serious?”
Before I could answer, he palmed his face in both his hands: „She is serious.”
Twig hit me on the back of my head before I had even seen her move: „I will not lose my place on the space corps because of one lazy Moron.” She turned to the others: „If we kill her, we might yet get a new partner. We could make it look like an accident.”
Delfi took on a thoughtful expression. She wasn't really considering to kill me, was she? I had to react with a quick and clever retort: „That's stupid.”
Okay, that wasn't very clever, but it was the best I could come up at the moment. I was a bit out of my league, since, in a way, she was right. I should know this stuff by heart. As probably everyone else did.
Malfeasony continued speaking, „Trying to get rid of a team member through an accident wouldn't work anyways. If someone is lost due to an accident, the entire team will be expelled according to the rules. We are responsible for each other now, and we have to remember that.“ He paused, just long enough for me to begin thanking him before he spoke again, „Even though the idea might be tempting.“
„Thank... What?”
He shrugged: „Well, it doesn't matter. I have two older brothers already working for UEBER, they told me the usual procedures. Since everyone usually knows this stuff already, we are supposed to spend this time together to better get to know each other. Team-building, you know. Well, of course it also protects the corps from lawsuits if anyone of us really does get killed or maimed because he forgets one of the basic safety rules.”
Stoplight, I still couldn't believe we already had callsigns, took the cue: „Speaking of maimed, how is your leg?”
I had not said anything, but I caught myself the look of death from Savannah. Ouch.
„Thank you for asking. I have a 3d-printed cast and they gave me a medpatch against the pain. According to the medic, it will heal just fine.”
Malfeasony took a look at her wrist: „That's a Mark IV! What did you do to get that? Painkillers of this strength are usually restricted to cancer patients and really grievous wounds.”
„I didn't do anything. It really hurt! I had to explain it to them several times, before they got the severity of my situation. Now could we get back to our main topic? How to get Havoc here through tests, most kids on a playground could pass.”
That was uncalled for. Most children wouldn’t even know how to write decompression, let alone cite the fifty-odd ways to cause decompression on a space station.
I was almost finished thinking of a scathing answer, when the wall next to me decided to attack. It hit my side with such force, I imagined the sound of breaking bones and ribs. Stars and galaxies formed before my eyes. Had Twig managed to shove me through an airlock? Something soft hit me on the other side. I tried to shove it away, but it was too heavy. Wait… gravity? So, I wasn’t in space. A stronger push managed to move the object off of me, so I could stand. My sight cleared and I could see Twig lying on the ground next to me. Malfeasony stood next to the terminal, looking at a plan of the station. One part was shown brightly red.
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I went right behind him: „What happened?”
„Explosion at the orbit control thrusters.” He was still scrolling through the sensor data.
I shook my head: „Can’t be. The station is equipped with ion thrusters. Those don’t have any fuel that could explode.”
He nodded thoughtful: „You’re right. Strange…”
I remembered the third member of or little group: „Where’s Twig?”
Malfeasony casually pointed to the other side of the table. A hand rose shakily into sight, the angle to the arm looked wrong. It was followed by the weak voice of Savanna: „I think I broke my wrist…”
The stations speakers drowned out Malfeasony’s comment. Which was probably better for the future of our teambuilding. „All hands, secure critical stations according to condition three. We have a terrorist on board! He has sabotaged the orbit control thrusters. The perpetrator has removed his ID-chip and has last been on monitoring running through the main corridor to sector 3. He is to be presumed armed and dangerous. Repeat: All hands, secure critical stations according to condition three…”
I suppressed a curse: „We are in sector 3…”
Malfeasony jumped to the door, opened it and… stumbled backward, the barrel of a heavy shock-blaster rifle nearly touching his nose. A space marine followed his gun into the room and looked around, without letting his first target out of his sight: „On the floor, hands on the back of your head. All of you!”
I followed his order with slow deliberate movements: „We are cadets, from the newest group. We…”
„Silence! Stay down! Don’t move or I will stun you, until you can power a flashlight with your bare hands. Understood?”
„Yes, Sir.” We all said it together.
„Sir, we’re just cadets, we…”
„The saboteur is one of your group. The Mexican guy that stumbled right next to you. A friend of you, mister di Carmelo?”
„Never seen him before.”
I wondered how he could know the identity of the saboteur so fast, but as a full space marine he had the usual implants. He would be linked into the security data stream. I listened for sounds from outside, but could hear only faint muffled sounds. Screams? I looked up to him from my undignified position: „What about the other cadets in all the cubicles around us?”
The stunner pointed right at my face: „Funny you should ask. Why do you think I’m here, checking on you four?”
I thought about it. And groaned inwardly. Yes, I had a very clear idea what separated us from the other teams. But I didn’t intend to tell him that. So, I put on my best innocent face, the one that sometimes even tricked my father and answered: „I have no idea.”
„You’re the only bloody cadet group we couldn’t seal in. Your door just wouldn’t lock.”
„This isn’t a secure or critical area. Maybe it’s just a fluke? Maybe if you just try again?”
„As if I didn’t try it several times…” He concentrated, probably using his implants to do just that.
The door closed, and locked smoothly.
He lifted an eyebrow at me: „That’s even more suspicious.” His eyes flickered, while he read something, only he could see. „Damn! Stay down! Don’t move! The terrorist ditched his implant. We can no longer locate his exact location.” He turned. The door unlocked. He opened it and stepped through, his stunning rifle at the ready. Something flashed outside the door, turning him into a stark shadowy silhouette. Then he crumbled to the floor.
Malfeasony rolled himself to the left wall. I took a second longer to process the situation, then took cover from an attack through the door, by rolling over to the other side.
Two heartbeats later, the Mexican guy the marine had just mentioned stepped through the door, sweeping his own gun around. He also had a Stun Gun, but his had three blinking lights on the shaft, signaling it had been switched to lethal intensity. Seeing us unarmed on the floor, he addressed Malfeasony by name: „Well, well, Malfeasony. What a delightful surprise. Your petty trickery has undone years of preparation. Care to explain why you had to trip me?”
Malfeasony shrugged awkwardly while still on the floor. „You were within reach. And I didn't like you,“
„We exchanged all of three sentences! How could you possibly have decided that you didn't like me?“ he demanded to know.
„They were very unlikable sentences,“ he retorted.
I tried to distract him: „What are you doing? Bombing the main engines won’t destroy the station. We don’t need to quickly change our position. And the secondary engines will hold its orbit forever. At least long enough that they can replace the ion engines. That was just stupid.” I went too far. I saw it in his eyes right after my last sentence. Why did my loose tongue always get the better of me? I hadn’t intended to further enrage him. Just distract him until Malfeasony could come up with… something. I glanced over to him. He hadn’t moved a muscle. I didn’t understand. Why didn’t he jump up and attack? Mexican guy had looked at me for at least two seconds. Time enough.
The stun gun pointed directly at me and I saw his finger twitching on the trigger.
„You call me stupid? While I point a gun at you? How clever is that? I will fry your brain to a crispy finish.” His gaze flicked to Malfeasony. Who still hadn’t acted. What was he waiting for? I was literally getting myself killed to distract this terrorist and he was just… smiling? Something on Malfeasonys expression made him suspicious.
„Why are you grinning? Seeing forward for having your miserable life finally ending? Rejoice! For your soul is still untainted by alien contact, and may still enter god’s embrace.”
I blinked. He was a Preserver? A Preserver on a space station? How did that happen?
Mexican guy lifted his gun and aimed at Malfeasony. Whose grin got even broader. The Mexican hesitated: „What’s so funny?”
Trying to simultaneously watch both me and Malfeasony had taken all of the terrorists’ attention. He never saw the fire extinguisher coming, Savanna swung at the back of his head. I cringed at the crunching sound of his breaking skull. The gun discharged harmlessly into the floor, then dropped from lifeless hands.
Adrenalin does strange things. Not to mention all the other biochemical thingies produced by the brain. The moment I realized I was not going to die, my whole body started to shake. I gave Savanna a thumbs-up. She smiled proudly in response. Malfeasony also signaled his approval. We burst out laughing, with me even sitting on the floor because I was laughing so hard. Savanna joined me, putting the fire extinguisher down.
We were still laughing, when a group of heavily armed marines found us.
We spent hours being interviewed after the incident. We were lucky in that a group of people rolling laughing on the floor didn’t immediately warrant the usual „stun first - question later”- response we’d probably have gotten normally when found next to two dead bodies.
Security footage showed the corridor including the Mexican arriving, throwing a stun grenade and then entering our study room.
General Hawk watched the video with disdain: „How could this idiot get admitted for training? Did you see how he threw that grenade? It bounced and exploded slightly left to the open doorframe. Done correctly, he’d stunned all of you in one go. It’s a bloody door! Any child should be able to hit it. This is a disgrace. Such a level of clumsiness is unforgivable, even for a cadet. He really deserved a good whack on the head. But well done, you three. Take an hour to rest up, then hit the shooting range. Your next test is precision shooting. After a week of training, we'll hold the exam.“
As we took a short break, Savannah maintained her upbeat attitude. She flashed me a smile and said, „At least you didn't skip basic weapon training.”
I shuffled my feet and looked down at the ground. „Well…”
Savannah’s smile quickly faded. „You’re joking, right?”
Malfeasony threw his hands up in the air in a gesture of pleading to his god, or maybe gods. I didn't know his religion, and it would be rude to assume. Then he grinned and said, „That's it. I've given up caring. We're going to win this competition, and we're going to join the marines. Even if I have to cram every skill and bit of knowledge into your head. While Twig kicks you for encouragement.”
„Uh, thanks?” I said uncertainly.
„You're welcome,” Malfeasony replied
Savannah grumbled but then let out a chuckle. „Maybe I'll hold back on the kicking.”
I joined in the laughter. I never would have expected Savannah to hit the terrorist with such force and resolve. She seemed so delicate and sensitive, but I was beginning to see that she had a killer instinct.
Malfeasony stopped grinning: „Now, seriously, lets refresh ourselves, get a bite to eat and meet at the shooting range. We missed the introductory lesson anyway. Our teacher will hardly care if we miss the whole day. Let’s meet in three hours. Then we’ll see.