The Methuselan Circuit (7 page)

“Welcome cadets! Drop your duffel bags under the seat in the terminal corresponding to the designated number on your orders. You will then proceed down the terminal hall toward the center rotunda for a lie detector test and indoctrination. Welcome aboard!”

“I thought we did all that already,” he said aloud.

“So did I,” Lisa said as she checked her compad. Alexander did likewise, as did every cadet in the terminal. He found his designation and looked around for his seat, but he quickly discovered it wasn’t as easy as all that, nor apparently was it meant to be.

“I’m assigned to Stern Alpha-23,” he said, looking around at the seats nearby. They were all designated as “Bow Golf-XX” locations. He looked up at the docking designation over the gangway and sure enough it read “Bow Golf.” He scratched his head, thinking something must be wrong. “I’m on the wrong side of the terminal or something’s messed up.”

“I’m assigned to Stern Alpha-17,” Lisa said, looking around.

James was next to him and he checked his compad. His brows rose, and he announced, “We’re all in the same place. I’m Stern Alpha-12. Does that mean we’re in the same squad?”

“I think we’re in flights during our time up here,” Lisa said, but she didn’t sound very certain of it. They looked around, seeing a lot of shoulder shrugs and scratching of heads. “It’s a test. I guess they want to see how we handle this; we are on probation this year.”

“I suppose we better get going then,” Alexander said a bit sheepishly.

“Let’s go,” she smiled.

Alexander slung his duffle bag over his shoulder and they headed in the shortest direction to where he guessed the Stern Terminal would be. That should be through the corridors emanating radially outward from the central rotunda. Guessing from the general flow of cadets he wasn’t the first to have the idea, but he, like everyone else was disappointed. The pressure doors for the corridor were closed. That meant he had to go around the entire tube of the terminal. He checked his station map. The quickest way was to the left, clockwise around the terminal tube. Strangely enough, all the cadets around him turned that way as well.

Shouldn’t half of us be going one way and half going the other way? This doesn’t look right. There must be something more to this.

He joined the sea of cadets as they marched clockwise around the terminal. Everyone was shaking their heads, thinking and saying the same thing. After passing Bow Uniform there was something of a stir going on ahead. One cadet, a tall dark haired, olive hued girl wasn’t following the crowd. She was not human. Her eyes were a luminescent blue with no pupil. Although she was tall, she was willowy, maybe weighing half what a human girl would weigh. What’s more, she was going the wrong way. Other cadets were asking her where she was going, but she only smiled and continued on her way, like a singular salmon swimming downstream instead of upstream. She said nothing to anyone; she didn’t make eye contact. She just went about her own way.

“I wonder how the Academy will see that?” he asked Lisa. She shrugged. Alexander admired her for her conviction, and he questioned his own. He knew this was a set up, but there was no logical reason to question the obvious outside of distrust for the Academy. He’d seen what that lead to, and there was no way he was going to follow that course. So, set up or not Alexander was going to do what he thought was logical.

That still didn’t stop him from wondering why, but a few minutes later he thought he realized the reason. The cadets ahead stopped. The terminal blast doors were sealed. It was a dead end. Like a big grumpy snake everyone turned around and headed back in the direction they came from. There was nothing else to do, so on they went. It took ten minutes to get back to a point where some cadets started to drop out and stow their gear. Alexander and Lisa went on, but after a few minutes there was a bottleneck again. This time, though it wasn’t because the corridor was blocked. Instead all the cadets were bunched up on the outer bulkhead of the terminal. They gathered at the windows, their young faces pressed up against the transparent aluminum. More cadets were gathering. Many were taller than Alexander, so he climbed up on a seat to get a better view. Then he saw why everyone stopped.

There it was—the
Iowa
. The blaster scarred derelict was only thirty yards away. Blaster holes were everywhere. The thick tritanium steel plates of the aft superstructure and engine room were twisted into fantastically grotesque shapes. The left superluminal pod was gone as was the aft main blaster turret. The forward superstructure and bridge were relatively intact, but everywhere on the silver-white metal of the superstructure were small mottled spherical shapes. It looked like the
Iowa
had been attacked by parasites. It wasn’t parasites, of course, but they were the signature of a brutal attack—boarding pods. Alexander knew that each boarding pods carried ten Galactic warriors. There were hundreds of them.

Despite her damage the
Iowa
was an imposing, awe inspiring sight. He could stay there all day, but a voice came from the loudspeaker. “Cadets are to report on the double to the central rotunda—enough rubber necking, hop to it!”

It was like stirring an anthill with a stick. Those who’d set their bags down scrambled for them along with everyone else nearby. Since the bags all looked alike this wasn’t as easy as it looked and there was momentary confusion. Fortunately Alexander had his bag between his legs. Snatching it up, he tried to step down into the boiling sea of cadets but he landed on someone’s foot.

“Ouch!” They pulled their foot out from under his and Alexander tripped, falling over his bag. Someone fell over him and there was instant bedlam. He tried to get up but someone bowled him over. He cursed, trying even harder this time, but he stumbled forward and would have fallen if someone hadn’t reached out and caught him.

CHAPTER 7: Indoc

“Steady there cadet,” exclaimed a girl’s voice. Alexander regained his balance and looked up to see the tall alien girl from earlier. “Thanks,” he gasped.

“Come on, you’re going to the same place I am,” she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward the windows. “Everyone is heading back to the terminal corridor; there will be fewer people here by the windows.”

She was right. “Thanks again,” he said, trying to remember to be gracious where pretty girls were concerned, another lesson from his Dad. “I’m Alexander by the way.”

“I’m Treya, I’m from Chem,” she smiled.

He followed her along the windows. They made much better time than the majority of cadets. After they were in the clear, he asked, “Sorry, but how do you know I’m going to the same place?”

She laughed, “We’re all going to the rotunda aren’t we?”
“Well yes,” he admitted.

Lisa stepped up, a frown on her face. “I see you already making friends Alexander. I’m Lisa, Alexander and I grew up on the same island.”

Lisa tried to change the subject which was fine with Alexander. “You’re in Stern Alpha too, so I guess we’ll all be in the same,” she stopped, and Alexander got the impression she didn’t want to sound ignorant in front of Treya.

“We’re all in Kilo flight,” Treya said, pointing out the designation at the bottom of the set of orders. Lisa blushed, but Treya graciously smiled and explained, “My Dad’s a diplomat and the rest of my family are Fleet so I’ve seen these government forms before. They’re dry as a Golkos desert but once you know where to look everything is always done the same way.”

“Are we going in the right direction,” he asked, not shy about being lost in this new place. “This is like nothing I’ve ever seen or imagined. I think they goofed.”

“All of you are from the same place; it must be a big island. I’m Treya, and I’m from Chem City. I’m the only one from my planet in this class.”

“Chem,” James exclaimed. “You’re really from Chem?”

The Chem were allies of the Terrans. It wasn’t always so, but the Chem and Terrans discovered they had far more in common than they realized. After a short time of rough relations, Terra and Chem became fast friends. It was the Chem who rescued Alexander from the Methuselans. It was in repayment for the Terran First Fleet, the Flagship Fleet, which emerged out of superluminal at the last possible moment, outnumbered and unafraid to defend the Chem Homeworld against the Methuselan invasion armada.

“Yes, but I’m part human; my parents and grandparents served in the Fleet, all the way back to my great grandfather and great grandmother. It’s in my blood, so to speak. We better get going, we’ve only got a few more minutes.” As they walked Treya asked if any of them had relatives in the Fleet or Legions.

James simply laughed, and Lisa told her about her own parents, who were Citizens after serving in the Peace Corps. Then they reached the Stern section of the terminal. The Alpha section was first. Alexander found Alpha-23 and slung his duffle bag onto the seat. “My Dad served in the Fleet as an Officer, and now he has his own ship. It’s just a freighter though.” He was kind of embarrassed now. His family didn’t have anything like that kind of history. His father served for thirty years as a Watch Commander. He served with distinction, but he retired early—for the first time Alexander wondered why—because instead of finishing his Service his Dad now trundled out to asteroid mines and drove hay across the island. He had a sudden chill settle in his stomach. To try and salvage the situation, he added, “His last post was fifteen years on the
Enterprise
. He went to the core of the galaxy. It sounds pretty cool, but all he ever said about it was there were a lot of old, old stars.”

“I’m sure my father knows him. He was the Chem Liaison Officer for that cruise,” she said with a feral smile, showing her sharper than human teeth.

“Maybe,” he said, not wanting to delve into it any further.

“I’ll check with my Dad, he told me to be on the lookout for cadets of his shipmates.”

Alexander wasn’t so sure he wanted her to find out how anonymous his Dad was, but what could he say? He heard his name. He looked back and saw Lisa. She was standing there looking at him, then at Treya and then back at him.

Alexander felt his face flush and tried to stifle a grin, but that only made them giggle. Fortunately, a strident voice accosted them over the loudspeakers. “Cadets, assembly is in ten minutes!”

That settled it. They dashed to the rotunda via the radial corridor, following everyone else. Passing through the large entrance revealed a curved amphitheater. “Cadets take your seats; we haven’t got all day.” Alexander, Lisa, James and Treya sat together, finding a group of seats as quickly as they possibly could amidst the confusion. Alexander felt patently uncomfortable between the girls. James gave him a grin and a thumbs-up, but Treya told him not to worry.