As the maglev train rushed through Bandito Station. Antonio Quilion looked out the window at his home rapidly receding into the distance. "I'll miss this place," he thought. It had been his home for the past six months. He thought about his mother and a wash of confusing emotions rippled over his now not-so-tan face.
The training had been absolutely brutal, especially to a boy with his stick-man frame. Designed for the well, or at least moderately fed, he was an exception in his cadet class, in that he had never had enough to eat where he grew up, Largo Street Place.
As he saw an older African Solite walk past he was immediately reminded of “The Experience” and put his face in his hands. He felt a twinge of fear, immediately followed by shame. "I'm supposed to be past this…especially now", he scolded himself.
His friend Lin sitting next to him noticed that something was up and asked "what's up, lanky?"
"Nothing, nothing, just remembering my childhood", Antonio replied.
"Approaching the Independence Spaceport . Disembarking passengers, please prepare your luggage."
"Guess that's where we get off," he remarked.
As soon as he jumped off the train, he was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the ships docking with the Magdocks. He took a few seconds to regain his bearings and looking around, found the administration offices, to which he was supposed to report.
Since he was just a lowly grunt, he was at the bottom of the food chain and would probably doing general maintenance, since it was very rare for citizens to get high enough clearance to enter the sector, let alone the spaceport. As he walked through the spaceport, he was amazed at the vast ethnic diversity, since both his childhood home and the class of militia he had graduated from were almost completely Hispanic. He was absolutely astounded when he saw a Cyber, because only super-soldiers (whose surgeries were paid for by the government) or the extremely wealthy could afford the cost of the surgery, the implants and the genetic modification necessary to keep them from rejecting those implants. He wondered which of the two categories this person belonged, immediately dismissing the possibility of wealth because of the tattoos that came snaking out of the man's short-sleeved T-Shirt. Those tattoos were gang symbols from where he grew up, the Black I'd Peas, to be precise. They were a classic rock band from mid 20th century, or something like that. He remembered listening to their music when he was at some gang-bangers in his younger days.
He then wondered how someone so closely associated with those gangs was wandering about the Secure Sector, let alone how he became a super-soldier. It was possible that he came from another Station entirely and that the tattoos were just a coincidence. In fact, that was probably the most likely thing.
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He continued walking because he had a ways to go until he reached his destination. It was all the way across the spaceport, about thirty kilometers away from the train exit. Antonio wondered why the administration office was so far away from the maglev station, but concluded it must be for security reasons. After three hours of walking through the giant corridors, he arrived at the Central Administration Hub. As he walked into the office, he saw a beautiful receptionist at the desk.
"How may I help you?", the receptionist said as he walked into the office.
"Hello there, miss. My name is Antonio Quillion and I'm here for my assignment."
"You're one of the new recruits, correct? Let me check what your assignment is." the receptionist checked the computer and, after a few moments she said, "Ah, I see your name. Your assignment is external maintenance. Head over to Maglock 31 to grab your equipment and get started. You're a bit late, so you should probably get going before you get a reprimanded. I'll let your squadron leader know that you're on your way."
Antonio walked out the door of the Hub and into the corridors again. After about five minutes he reached the dock he was supposed to report to, which was totally vacant. He heard yelling coming through a small door to the side of the dock and decided to go check if that was where his instructor was. When he walked through the door, he saw a tiny, muscular midget that was yelling at a group of cadets in uniforms like his.
"You stupid newbies! Is that how you put on a spacesuit? By pulling?!?! You'll be dead by the end of the day if you do it that way!", he said, adding "Ah, there you are, Antonio, right? I'll just call you Newbie Forty-Two. If you survive basic EVA training, that's when you'll earn a nickname. Now get your stinking butt on over here! Come on, Come on, I don't got all day!"
"Yes, Jebediah," Antonio replied, looking at the midget's name-tag on his uniform.
"You will not call me Jebediah, newbie! You will refer to me as either 'drillmaster' or 'sergeant'," the midget said, adding "Do you understand, newbie?"
"Sergeant, yes sergeant," Antonio replied.
"Good job, newbie! Now show me how to put on a spacesuit! Do it fast, we don't got all day!", Jebediah said.
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After three weeks of intensive training, Antonio, now called Glofish, finished the midget's basic training camp. It was time for his first out-of-station repair trip. He slipped on his suit and climbed into the Grav-Sled he was using to carry the materials for the trip.
As he was starting the engine of his Grav-Sled, he felt a rumbling beneath the floor of the station, followed by extreme shaking. What was going on!?