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Interval 1.5 ~ not in Kansas anymore
Previous Interval...
Author's Note: This is the second part of first chapter. With this section I was hoping to give a little more description of the station and introduce a couple more characters. Questions to consider... 1.) Are you getting a good idea of the environment that is the ACA? 2.) Do the two new characters peek your interest?
Hera led the now humbled students down the deserted Outer Ring, pointing out rooms of interest and encouraging them to remember how everything was organized. Bo walked silently behind his sister along with the others. He wondered if she had not recognized him or was simply pretending not to. He slowed his pace testing her observation skills, threatening to lag behind. At first, she did not notice.
Movement in an open sports node caught his eye. Two cadets played at a heated game of Blast Ball. The ball was blinking and each man was attempting to keep it as far away from himself as he could. The red lights which spit the metallic ball into two hemispheres increased in speed and the taller of the boys slammed it hard with his magnet racket and the Blast Ball ricocheted off the wall in a chaotic path, both men dancing around the room trying to stay away from it. In an instant, the lights flashed in unison and the ball exploded, splitting down the center along the row of LEDs, dropping sticky red goo. It splattered out in two directions hitting both Cadets.
“Draw!” Hera announced appearing at his side.” Well done, Gentlemen. Don’t forget to clean that up.” She winked at her brother. “Now, come along Sir, we have much left to see. You’ll get your chance.” She put her arm around his shoulders and walked him back to the rest of his group waiting three nodes up for their return.
“Stay together now. We are about to enter the creamy nougat center of the station. ” A few students giggled at her humor. She merely smiled and began leading them again. “The commandant’s offices are on the opposite side of the ring and we will be dissecting the Hub, our library and café to reach them.”
Each new student lined up behind her and stepped one at a time over the threshold into the larger geometric room serving a double purpose. Along one curved outer wall, a row of computer servers lined a concave space; ranks of students stood in front of the computer terminals, their small palmtop computers flashing, while the opposite wall was lined with vending machines offering products from a limited range of foods. Tables and chairs filled in the space in between.
“Ma’am?”A girl asked.” What are those students doing?” She pointed toward the terminals.
“I’m sure you have seen or maybe used Readers… They are downloading and uploading instructional and recreational texts, assignments, and textual Communiqués. There are no papers or ink allowed on the station. Space is at a premium here, we would not benefit from an overabundance of clutter lying around. Everything is digitized through the readers. Each of you will be assigned a reading unit for its use here on the station.”
“Ma’am?” a boy asked “What of journals? How do we keep them?”
“You can type them on the reader or your rooms PC same as you would complete your assignments. When you are given your Reader, you will see that there is a secure section, which you can password for keeping your assignments from being hacked. I’ve been using that section to hide my journal since my first season… “
Another boy’s face twisted as if her words tasted of lemons. She decided he must be taking the administrative course work.
“Don’t worry.” She told them. “Journals are not against any of the ACA’s rules nor is placing personal documents in the secure section of the Reader’s HD…” She resumed her lead, motioning to the Library wall. “Through these terminals you will receive your assigned readings and submit your work. Every text available in the three galaxies can be accessed from this room.
“Along this wall are our meal choices.” She dropped her right arm and lifted her left as if showing them around was a well-choreographed dance. “The venders operate twenty-four hours a day to correspond with the many schedules you will run though. There are no days and nights here, so some courses may take place later on the clock than you are used to. The ACA is never quiet and you will find there is no set time for rest periods. It may seem unnatural given you have lived your lives bound by the Earth’s cycles. Getting used to our schedules will take some time but never fear, you WILL adapt.”
As the group was about to pass out of the common area, the students noticed a table of cadets who wore long white linen capes over their uniforms, hoods pulled down over their faces.
“Ma’am, who are they?” Bo asked.
“They are called ‘Bones’. They are a club of sorts.” She answered with a tinge of venom in her voice. “Most every university has them.”
“They are really creepy.” A smartly dressed girl said aside to Bo.
“I think they are intriguing.” He answered, catching one eye to eye.
Hera did not like the sound of her brother being interested in the likes of them, but she knew better than to comment on it. She’d find a way to speak with her brother in private, for now she had to put it aside. “This way” She pointed to the left as they reached the other side of the outer ring. “We have just a few more nodes to go. The interior doors on this side of the outer ring are all instructors’ offices and the exterior doors are their lodgings. The opposite side which we’ve already passed through was cadet lodgings and instruction rooms.”
She paused, holding up a hand to signal a halt. The students paused behind her. She pressed a button on a panel next to the door. A disembodied voice responded.
“Yes?” It was the voice of an aging man, his African accent thick.
“I have brought you the new class for inspection, Sir.” She said into the speaker on the panel.
The round latch on the door spun and swung inward. A large broad-chest man stood in the round doorway. “Thank you Cadet.” He said stepping out into the hall.
Hera snapped too as he stepped over the door well. He stiffened his body in a similar gesture in response. She held a clenched fist in front of her chest and folded her other palm over it. She bowed her head and he returned the show of respect.
The students watched in wonderment. Some of them memorized the gesture.
Jocelyn Kennedy, the girl who had spoken to Bo in the common room recognized it from home; her Father once tread the metal floors of the ACA and planned her attendance over her crib at night. Her childhood lacked the carefree whimsy of other in her apartment block and resembled a miniature ACA on the earth. Unlike Bo, she had always known the ACA loomed like an anvil over her future.
For Bo, the trip was a grand adventure, for her it was a responsibility. Completed courses and high marks were expected. Her entire life was a flawlessly organized diagram of social perfection. Born with a silver spoon in her mouth, her aristocratic parents had seen to it that she experienced every luxury and opportunity. Her life was a perfect model of the privileged class and she radiated it. Her teeth, skin, and hair were flawless. Her clothes were the most fashionable despite a disagreement with her father over the need for fashion on the Station. She stood out in even the tiniest of ways from her fellow travelers. She stood with her back erect and her limbs stiff, just as her father had taught her, hoping the Commandant would notice. She surmised that her father was more than likely already inquiring about her status and she needed to be certain he received a favorable report.
Hera watched as her brother’s eyes strayed sideways to his new friend. Throughout his undisciplined childhood he had always been a little more ‘girl-crazy’ than most boys. Their mother blamed his father’s genetics. Now with Puberty rising, his would be more than a handful for the young women off the ACA. His eyes wandered to Jocelyn’s out-thrust chest and the line of her body as she stood awaiting the inspection.
Hera admired the young one’s form for its trained precision, but plainly, her brother thought more highly of the girl’s bodily line then her already refined drilling skills.
‘This could defiantly be trouble.’ She thought as Jocelyn broke ranks and glanced sideways at Bo with appreciative eyes. ‘Witches Nebula! Four years separates them. What is she thinking? He’s so short compared to the rest of them; can’t she see how young he is?” Hera could see how difficult this year was going to be. How could she forget he was her brother when he needed so much protection?
“Welcome to the ACA. I am Commandant Owusu” He paced back and forth between Hera and her charges. “You appear to be a worthy lot, but exteriors are often deceptive. I have read though each of your files and am looking forward to watching you grow into the best the Three Galaxies have to offer. I hand-picked you personally and I expect you all to do your unflinching best.” Owusu’s tone was comforting and grandfatherly; he would leave the granite tones to those under him whose task it would be to break them down. “Mister Laraway and Miss Kennedy… Given your family histories within the ACA, I expect the two of you to rise above your peers and make your families proud. You have mighty large shoes to fill.”
He paced again, glancing at Hera as he did so; a slight smile on his face. “I am available for any problems which might occur during your stay here, but I would advise taking them to your cadet advisors first. Wait here; I have your Readers on my desk.” He disappeared into his office and returned holding a bright silver box. “Cadet, can you please hand these out, making sure each recipient gives us their thumb print to confirm their receipt.” He handed the box to Hera.
“Yes Sir.” She took it under one arm and began giving each new student a Reader. “These are the Readers we spoke of In the Hub. They will be your umbilical to life here at the ACA. Keep them with you always. Just place your thumb on this pad here… now you are responsible for your unit.”
“Thank you, Cadet.” Owusu interjected. “For those of you who lack experience with readers, I suggest finding someone with it and pairing up. You will need at minimum a basic understanding of the device to download your course texts and syllabi. There will be an Instructional in the Hub tomorrow morning for more complicated controls. Standard Courses begin in thirty-six hours, Lunar Time. Good-luck Ladies and Gentlemen. I release them into your capable care, Cadet.”
Yes, Sir, thank you sir.”
He returned to his office, twisting the door closed behind him.
The students, with the exception of Jocelyn, were fiddling with their readers not noticing that the Owusu had left the passageway.
Jocelyn was still standing erect and shed placed her Reader in her already regulation belt purse. She cleared her throat and nudged the students on either side with her elbows. Hera’s respect for her well-trained demeanor was wearing thin. She was too good.
“Now, we have one last node left before we can rest. Medical.” Hera informed her weary troop.
Some of them groaned in complaint.
“Come on now, it’s merely for your biometrics marker fitting. It does not hurt. They just need to input your DNA and aural signature into your ACA ring…” She held her hand up for them to see and turned the ring on her finger with her thumb. It will only take a few minutes longer and then you will be released to find your rooms. This way…”
They continued to follow their upperclassman down the passageway stepping over three node supports.
“The rings will allow continuous monitoring of your vital signs as well as location tracking in case of incident. Don’t worry there isn’t a computer spying on you… well… there is a computer monitoring your data but no one would use it in such a heinous way. The biometrics system is for your safety only.”
Next segment...
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