Cygnus Rising: Humanity Returns to Space (Cygnus Space Opera Book 1) Page 2

  They were both wrong. She stopped next to the two recruits, sneered at both of them and with a dismissive wave, encouraged them to run away, around the wall to the next obstacle. They didn’t hesitate as they bolted for the rope swing across a sludge-filled pond.

  “GET DOWN HERE!” Spittle flew from her mouth as she screamed at the young woman who’d pulled her hand away and let Cain fall.

  She ran down the ramp on the back side of the wall and stood at attention while the Discipline Instructor, the DI, berated her and her entire lineage all the way back to the RV Traveler, the colonization ship that brought all intelligent life to Cygnus Seven, or Vii as they called it. When she finished, she took a deep breath.

  “Are you ever going to let your teammates down again, Recruit?” the DI asked in a calm voice.

  “No, Master DI!” the young woman shouted.

  The DI was unpersuaded. “Why would you do that?” she asked in a low voice, serious about the question.

  “Master DI, the recruit doesn’t know!” the young woman belted out her already well-practiced response to anything she supposedly did wrong.

  “Cut the crap, Ellie,” the DI said conversationally. “You did that for a reason. Did he do something to you?” The young woman’s hesitation gave the DI her answer. “Tell me, what did he do?”

  The integration of the training was a newer standard and some men were having difficulty seeing women as equals. It was a holdover from the days before Braden and Micah, the old days, the dark male-dominated days.

  Finally, Ellie found her voice. “He tripped me in our formation run, then stepped on me.”

  “On purpose?” the DI pressed.

  “Yes, Master DI. On purpose.”

  The DI thought about it. “Why do you think he’d do that?” The DI didn’t mind a certain amount of horseplay, but she wouldn’t tolerate open combat between the recruits as some were extremely deadly, like the Wolfoids who, to this day, killed game without the use of weapons.

  “I suggested the Wolfoid should sleep on the ground instead of the bottom bunk,” Ellie whispered, ashamed to hear it from her own mouth.

  “I would have stepped on you, too. I suggest what’s-his-face tried to teach you a lesson and I’m glad he did. He’s your new recruit team leader. No, the Wolfoid, he’s your new team leader. And don’t even think thoughts like that again. At some point in time, you will need to count on every single creature here, and they will have to count on you. If they can’t, you’re out of the program, and you’ll be a ground crew refueling shuttle rockets and cleaning out the john. You get me, Recruit?” the DI said in a dangerous voice.

  “Yes, Master DI!”

  The DI made Ellie climb the wall again, but there was no one on top to pull her up, which meant that for the remainder of the time allocated to the obstacle course, she would run at the wall and make futile attempts to kick off high enough to reach the ledge on her own.

  The DI stalked around the obstacle to find Cain and Leaper swimming through the mud, having failed to correctly use the rope to swing across the obstacle. She waved to one of her fellow DIs, nodding toward the two in the pit.

  “The human made it. The Wolfoid slipped. The human swung back to help. He almost had him, hanging onto the rope with one hand while trying to pull the Wolfoid out of the muck with his other. So close.” The other DI laughed as he walked back to his post.

  “YOU TWO KNUCKLEHEADS! HERE, NOW!” the short DI bellowed, stabbing a finger toward the ground in front of her. Cain and Leaper stopped. They were almost to the other side. She could see them trying to figure if they should fight their way back through the mud or run around the obstacle, which was supposed to be taboo, although they’d already done it once. Seeing their confusion between the standing order and her current order, she decided to elucidate. “Get out and run around,” she stated, trying not to laugh.

  Recruits. Breaking them down was the easy part, but building them back up to think for themselves while still working as a team was tricky. Many figured it out, a few did not. This was the breaking down phase, two days into the ninety-day training cycle, followed by an additional ninety-days of specialization training. She expected them to be confused, but at least they were giving it their all. She watched them scramble out of the pit. The Wolfoid dropped to all fours and raced ahead, but slowed, letting the human catch up. Whether it was for mutual support as neither wanted to face the DI alone, or simply the two had quickly become a team, she didn’t know. It didn’t matter, either. The end result was the same.

  Black Leaper and Cain arrived together and stood upright. The Wolfoid towered over the short DI while standing a head taller than Cain. He wore a collar with a vocalization device, a small unit that translated his thought voice into out-loud speech. The devices captured some of the emotional nuances of the speaker depending on how long the creature had worn it. In this case, Leaper had just received it so most statements sounded monotone.

  “Recruit Black Leaper reporting as ordered, Master DI,” the slightly mechanical voice relayed. Leaper didn’t like the sound of it. He’d invest in a quality unit when he graduated.

  “Recruit Cain reporting as ordered,” Cain said softly, trying to project the same volume as Leaper.

  “At ease, recruits. Why do you think I called you over here?” she asked almost conversationally. Cain and Leaper froze, not wanting to move and draw the attention of the DI although she looked from one to the other and back again.

  “Never mind. You, Black Leaper, you are the team leader for this mob. You’ll have five recruits that you are responsible for. This one will help you. Your job is to make this group tight, work as one unit. You think you can do that?”

  “Yes, Master DI,” Leaper responded, his mechanical voice not reflecting the full measure of his excitement, but his head bobbed slightly as he realized the honor he was just given. It usually took weeks for a team leader to be designated.

  “I’ll probably have to fire you tomorrow, but for now, you’re it.” She leaned forward and sniffed, then coughed. “Get your stinky asses over that wall!” She pointed back toward the obstacle they’d previously run around, thinking they were free and clear of it. Cain tried not to roll his eyes as they both dashed away before she could change her mind and fire Leaper sooner than tomorrow.

  Leaper barked and Cain gave a hearty “yeehaw” as they ran to get into position to vault the wall.

  “You first, Stinky,” Cain joked. The Wolfoid yipped, not sure if he liked the nickname, but knowing full well that from that point forward, he’d never be called anything else.

  Leaper ran and true to his name, kicked off the wall, sailing high, but his push-off kept him out of reach of the top. He landed gracefully in the sand pit. “I need to push off farther out, away from the wall.” Cain rain forward and got on all fours, making himself into a springboard. Leaper ran away from the wall, made a sharp turn without slowing down, and ran back, hitting Cain at full speed.

  Cain withstood the onslaught, vowing to never do that again as Leaper sailed high enough to land on the top of the obstacle on his four paws. It took a great deal to impress the DI and in her two years at the school, she’d never seen anyone do what Leaper had just done on his second try.

  The human stood, a little slowly, then jogged to a position where he could take a run at the wall. He stopped, gauged the distance, licked a finger and held it up to the wind, then sprinted forward. He hit the wall with his left foot to push himself higher, reaching for the top. Leaper hung his front paws down the wall where Cain grasped one, barely. They stayed where they were, in limbo. Leaper was ready to fall and Cain hung on by his fingertips.

  He looked up at Leaper’s face as the Wolfoid showed his fangs, struggling to find a better perch. With a push from below, Cain bounced upward. Leaper scrambled back and kept pulling until Cain was on the top. They both looked down to see Ellie wiping the sand of Cain’s shoes from her hands.

  “Somebody has to keep their eyes on you two,
” she said with a smile, before looking quickly at the DI standing on a hill not far away. She bolted before the DI could give her a tongue-lashing for running around the obstacles to get back to the wall. Ellie ran for the rope swing, enjoying the exercise. She vaulted, caught the rope, and easily swung to the other side, hitting the ground without breaking stride. Leaper and Cain both watched, before running down the back ramp of the wall obstacle to build speed for their second attempt at clearing the pit.

  First Classes at Space School

  The entire morning consisted of physical labor, from the formation runs to the obstacle course, to individual calisthenics designed to get the most from each and every recruit, whether Wolfoid, Rabbit, Hawkoid, Amazonian, Hillcat, Aurochs, and even Tortoid. There weren’t any Tortoids in Cain’s group, but there were instructors from each of the intelligent species.

  Cain and his twenty-five classmates had been assigned to class Beta 37 for the second quarter’s class of the year 137. One hundred and thirty-seven years had passed since President Micah assumed leadership on Vii and helped to turn Vii into a peaceful society of coexistence and intellectual expansion. The intelligent species of Vii were considered to be its people, to be one humanity encompassing all those with any trace of human DNA, which was what the scientists had spliced into the creatures that later evolved into the intelligent species.

  Lunch at Space School was magnificent. Cain was fed well throughout his life, but he’d never seen a spread like they offered at the school. There was something for all of the intelligent species, including live beetles and raw meat. Of all the things they trained at the school, dealing with starvation wasn’t one of them. The instructors knew that the recruits would burn the calories, so they gave them as much as they could eat in the fifteen minutes allotted.

  Which was more than enough for both Cain and Leaper. Ellie only managed to eat half her food before they were rushed from the dining hall, and the other two members of Leaper’s team were equally challenged in finishing their meals. An older woman called Tandry, and her bonded Hillcat Mixial, looked forlornly at the food being wasted as she passed her tray to the scullery. She took too long getting the food, but next time, she’d grab faster and eat more. She left the dining hall hungry.

  Mixial was nonplussed. She’d eat when she was hungry, to include hunting game in the local woods if the mood took her. The Hillcats only attended Space School with their bonded humans, never by themselves. They mostly went to the classes, but weren’t responsible for anything. They were, after all, ‘cats.

  The last member of the team was a Rabbit called Brisbois, a dainty male who joined because he was a technical whiz. If one wanted a career in math and physics, there was no better place than the Space Exploration Service. Most everything on Vii was managed by Artificial Intelligence. To get into the Cygnus VI Research and Development Center, the off-planet station, he had to establish himself. Serving was the best way to do that. Plus he was one of the very few Rabbits who didn’t enjoy gardening and that accounted for why he was smaller than his siblings. At least that was what his brothers and sisters told him.

  They ran from the dining hall as five teams of five, plus a total of seven ‘cats trotting leisurely alongside the group. The DI shooed the ‘cats out of the way as she tried to claim her spot alongside the formation. She wondered if the recruits were working surreptitiously with their ‘cats to get in her way, slow her down. It would not have been the first time recruits conspired with their ‘cats against the DI and it wouldn’t be the last.

  The DI sprinted out in front of the formation and yelled over her shoulder that the recruits needed to catch up. The Wolfoids and Rabbits hopped awkwardly as they stayed upright. Dropping to all fours would have made the race irrelevant, but they needed to arrive in their five-person teams. The lone Amazonian rocked as he ran, bouncing into others from his team as he struggled to keep up.

  No one was happy, just as the DI meant things to be. This lightened her mood considerably so she slowed down to let the formation tighten up. It wouldn’t do to look like a ragtag mob when they arrived at the classrooms. It wouldn’t do at all.

  She slowed them to a march so the recruits could catch their breath and walk in like they owned the place. She’d never graduated all twenty-five before, but in this group, she saw no one as the weak link. If she stayed out in front and cut short any issues, like the minor prejudice against the Wolfoid, before they could fester, then she might be able to reach her goal. Only one other DI had graduated all twenty-five. She wanted to be the next one to do it. She had no control over whether the recruits stayed or went, that was up to third parties who observed the various phases of training. All she could do was teach them to be better as a team than alone, while letting their individuality help them to be better versions of themselves.

  The DI had high hopes.

  She dismissed the group and had them walk smartly in a single file into the great building outside the space center. Only a short subway ride away was the New Sanctuary oasis and the New Command Center, which was the heart and soul of all operations in the Cygnus system.

  The recruits started in one of the satellite buildings and throughout training and follow-on classification school, they’d move into better and higher tech rooms to help facilitate turning them into experts in the fields they were best suited for.

  The first week of classes were all introductory or history-related. What was the Space Exploration Service all about; how did it come to be; what were its goals; what was its future; and most importantly, how the useless recruits in that room could blossom into contributing members of the SES.

  Each instructor built up the class’s hopes, followed quickly by the DI dashing them as she took the stage between classes.

  DI Katlind stood tall, seemingly much taller than her actual short stature called for as she looked down on the recruits from the stage where the lecturers briefed. She looked at each of the new faces, ascertaining who was listening and who was sleeping with their eyes open like Tortoids and Rabbits could do. Satisfied that she had their attention, she drilled them on the key lessons from the day.

  “What do you live for?” she shouted.

  “The ship! Our purpose is to serve the ship. The ship is life,” they repeated, mostly in unison. It took seven more times before the DI was satisfied with the volume of the recruits’ response and the accuracy of the words.

  “You!” She pointed at Leaper, who sat upright, like a dog, on a padded cushion with a small writing desk. “What does that mean?”

  “The ship must always come first. Without it, no one can live in space. The ship is life,” Leaper spoke passionately, judging by how his shaggy brown head bounced and his mouth worked as he “talked.” The mechanical voice was getting better, but still more monotone than not.

  “You!” She pointed to Cain, sitting at a human-style desk next to Leaper. The question caught him off guard as he expected her to pick someone from the other side of the room.

  He stood, buying himself time to think of his version of the answer. “We are all expendable to save the ship. You can’t have people without the ship, but you can have a ship without people.” Katlind harumphed, but didn’t counter his point.

  “You! Get that out of your mouth. Why would we go to space if it’s just going to kill us?” the DI asked, pointing to the Amazonian who’d been studiously chewing an old-fashioned wood pencil. The Lizard Man stood, as Cain had done. His vocalization device seemed to be well-worn. He could have been young or old, no one besides Amazonians could tell how old they were by looking at them or trying to read any of their facial expressions.

  He started slowly, clearly articulating the words that were amplified by the device’s speaker at his throat. “Humanity braved space millennia ago to bring us all here. We took a break to find ourselves and what we wanted from this life,” he stated as if a professor addressing a class, using kind language to describe a horrific civil war. “Then President Micah and her mate Braden un
ited all the people—fur, feathers, or skin—and made them equal. She challenged them to be better. We return to the stars to find others from Earth, fellow humans, learn from them, expand our knowledge, expand our understanding of the universe,” the Amazonian finished, waiting to be allowed to return to his seat.

  He wore the skin suit that allowed him to live and work in the same environments as the others. It shimmered lightly as it was powered, holding the moisture within as it was soaked daily. The skin of the Amazonians was meant to be constantly wet, and their flesh dried out quickly in conditions other than that of the Amazonian rainforest. The suits had been designed by previous generations as the Amazonians ended their war and ventured beyond the confines of their homeland.

  DI Katlind slowly walked from the stage, never taking her eyes from the Amazonian. The other recruits froze in place, fearing to move and draw unwanted attention to themselves.

  “What gives, Pickles? You sound like a professor,” she said with a sneer.

  “It’s Peekaless, Master DI,” the Amazonian said, instantly regretting correcting the DI.

  “ON YOUR FACES!” she bellowed, surprised that only two desks were overturned as the recruits dove into the pushup position. She walked around them, happy to see the quick response from her unit, although she’d never let them know that. “You two look way too comfortable. Crouch!” she directed Leaper and Brisbois.

  The Rabbit and Wolfoid half-crouched into a position that was comparably uncomfortable to the position that the humans maintained.

  “Okay, Pickles, where were we?” the DI continued, indifferent to the groans and gasps from the recruits around her. “Crouch!” she directed the second Wolfoid in the class as he tried to hide behind a larger human.

  “Recruit Peekaless was an instructor of history at Bliss High School, Master DI,” the Amazonian said flatly, despite the fact that his vocalization device was sufficiently trained to show a broad range of intonation.