Thinking back to Captain Reacher’s recommendation, Taliseen couldn’t understand what exactly she was thinking when she filed a recommendation. In a mere three days, he had been expelled due to “inadequate qualifications.” Although it seemed like a slap in the face, it was indeed true. He had actually failed the very first test meant to gauge a new applicant’s abilities. Situations presented to him in the simulation portions were outright insane, and Taliseen barely managed to make it two minutes without having failed miserably. He could tell just from the proctor’s near tangible disappointment.
As he sat, rubbing the armrest of the transport ship’s seat, he laughed to himself. He had been enlisted in the army for less than a year, what made him think he was capable of officer school. While others had entered and passed the officer school with less years in the military than him, their situations were quite different. All those officers had training since they could understand Lingua, and had been geniuses in their own rights. To top it off, most of them had received training from officers higher level than anyone he had a relationship with. Compared to them, Taliseen was just another scrap of cannon fodder, a cog in the machine at best.
However, it was useless comparing himself to those legends. All of them had made names for themselves and had settled down comfortably in near the top. To get where they wore, they had taken tens of years, others had even took hundreds and were near the end of their lifespan. Taliseen didn’t even dare try to compare himself to them. For now, it was all he could do to learn from his failure and improve.
The trip back to the Alpha Centauri system would take a day, and the starship had only just set off. Begrudgingly remembering the work load he had been given by the officer school to help him improve, he whipped out a pencil and brought up the folding desk next to his legs. He pulled out the first packet of paper, and set to work on it.
**Alpha Centauri IVa-OSP II, 5th floor, medical wing, Room 514. 5:68:32 GST.**
“Mary, I know you feel indebted to the guy who saved your life, but please, don’t just send him to the officer school for the hell of it.”
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Currently, Captain Reacher was lying in her bed in the medical ward, a computer on her lap. On the computer, was the familiar video chat screen and a small blue and white S logo. The man on the screen was the major Taliseen had met, only now, he was dressed in civilian clothes. Rubbing his the stubble on his chin, he sighed.
“Don’t worry John, I know better than to waste the instructors’ time. He isn’t even able to pass the preliminaries. There were also only 3 other applicants that day, so the proctor shouldn’t have been busy.” Captain Reacher waved her hand and laughed it off.
“That’s exactly the problem, you shouldn’t be throwing newbies at the officer school. If you do, they’ll revoke your right to recommend!”
“Don’t be such a hard ass John, they’ve changed their policies for wartime.”
Major John was stupefied for a moment. “What do you mean they changed their policies?”
“Oh?” Captain Reacher raised an eyebrow. “The infamous Major John Williams, who led the charge to drive the tellairans from Tau Ceti doesn’t even know about the officer school’s wartime policy change?”
Major Williams grimaced. “Don’t try to be funny Mary, just tell me what changed.”
Captain Reacher giggled. “If an applicant fails in the preliminaries, as long as they have a talent-group recommendation, then they’ll receive a mock first-year final exam, along with other study guides and materials. Depending on the performance in the preliminaries, they might even allow access to a portion of the digital library.”
For a moment, Major Williams was slack-jawed. Breaking his trance, he removed his New York Giants hat and ran a hand through his shiny brown hair.
“Well damn,” Major Williams awkwardly chuckled. “That is important.”
“Told ya,” Captain Reacher grinned smugly. “If he’s lucky, he’ll learn a lot from this and apply it in the next major skirmish, and then earn himself some merits. After a rinsing and repeating a couple of times, he should receive an invitation from the school again.”
“Haah...” Major Williams sighed. “I wish that policy was around when I first applied. I could’ve really used that information.”
“Yes, you failed spectacularly.” Captain Reacher laughed.
“Well, I hope he doesn’t get too discouraged. He should know that almost nobody has passed the preliminaries on their first try.”
They continued to talk for a while, until Major Williams decided it was time for him to return to his activities. They ended the call, and both went back to their respective duties. For Captain Reacher, it was just another day in the bed, waiting for her full recovery. Already feeling the boredom, she turned her head to look out the window. Though the windows were nearly pitch black, she could still see the brightness of the binary stars of Alpha Centauri. The twin bright white stars created a beautiful sight, lulling Mary sleep.
The Battle of Tau Ceti was just the tip of the space iceberg, who would be able to tell if, one day, the light of these two beauties of the universe would one day, wink out of the sky, forever turning dark and cold…