Academy Snippet 3

 Happy Veterans Day!

So, Rea sent me the manuscript back yesterday. I finished the edits and shot it off to Goodlifeguide. Fingers crossed it will come out before T-day.

Speaking of which, I was asked to throw a second T-day (today) for family who surprised us by coming into town. So, I'm about to run around like a chicken with its head cut off some more. (oh, wait, that's the turkey! never mind)

On to the snippet!

This is from the second story:

Straighten Up and Fly Right

 

Katya followed the directions she had been given and walked down the corridor on her assigned floor with her gear. She tried not to look too closely, aware of the line of other students behind her. They had a very short window to get into their dorm rooms, get squared away, and then ready for an inspection. She saw a group of cadets being balled out by another cadet, possibly an upperclassman. She was a bit confused about that distinction; she initially didn’t understand that the upperclassman was acting as an instructor. The guy was in their face, chewing them out while brandishing something she couldn’t quite see yet.

When she got closer, she noted it was a crumpled-up wrapper from a candy bar. There was a balled-up bag for chips too. More debris was on the ground. The deck she reminded herself. The room looked like a bomb hit it, strewn and torn apart.

One of the cadets, a human girl, was damn near in tears. She wanted to intervene but was shocked by the tableau and slowed her stride.

That was a mistake; it drew the attention of the predator in the form of the senior cadet. He turned his glower her way and she stiffened. “Problem, Larva?”

“Just ah … passing through,” she said carefully, swallowing her pride. She should know better than to make waves and draw attention to herself.

He sized her up and down. “You new here?”

“Yes … sir,” she said. She didn’t know what instinct told her to call him sir but she knew better than to ignore it in this instance.

“Keep moving!” a voice said from the back of the line.

“You haven’t learned to report at attention, cadet?” he asked icily.

She frowned but put her gear down and braced to attention. Others following behind her were suddenly blocked. There was some mumbling but then they too dropped their gear to see what the holdup was.

The senior cadet sized her up and then the group. His brown eyes trailed to them like knives. Katya glanced at the duo of girls who had been his original prey. They seemed to be regaining their composure during the momentary distraction.

“Name, cadet?” the voice said, making her snap back to attention.

“Katya Budnova,” she replied.

“That’s Cadet Katya Budnova. Didn’t they teach you anything, plebe?” the senior cadet demanded.

She thought about how to respond and then just decided to be honest. “There is a first time for everything,” she replied with a shrug.

He glowered at her. Some of the other cadets looked surprised at her insolence.

“Put yourself down for two demerits cadet. Then get out of my sight. Get your gear squared away and read the in brief pronto.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied as she gathered up her gear and got into motion once more. Prick, she thought as she paced him. He had already turned his back to her. She gave the girls a roll of her eyes and kept going. The group behind her quietly moved to their assigned quarters as well.

<<<*>>>

She had just enough time to find her quarters and start to put her gear away before the senior cadet arrived in the doorway for a snap inspection.

Her roommate arrived behind him and blushed as she ducked past him and stood by her rack.

He examined the room and then sniffed. “You two better get squared away. You are in the kiddy pool now, but being in the navy is not for kids. Learn the ropes fast or get yanked.” He glowered at Katya. “I have a feeling you won’t last long,” he growled before he about-faced and left.

Katya felt her spine stiffen but she didn’t say anything. She looked at her roommate who was sagging a little.

If she couldn’t hack that, she was in for a rough ride, Katya thought. “I’m Katya. And you are …?”

“Sorry, Norma Jean.”

“Ah.”

“Are you from Syntia’s World?”

“No, ET.”

She wrinkled her nose in confusion. “ET?”

“Epsilon Triangula.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh! The place with the mob and big cities?”

“Yeah,” Katya drawled. She turned and finished putting her stuff away. She compared it to the image on her HUD. So far so good.

“Um …,” the girl was just putting things into her press willy-nilly.

“Follow the inspection list,” Katya warned. She was used to checklists and inspections from her time as a pilot.

“Excuse me?” the girl asked defensively.

“The inspection sheet in the manual. They’ll come back and check our stuff. If the socks aren’t right, they’ll throw them on the deck and make us redo stuff. And we have to pay in demerits later.”

The mousy brown haired girl blinked.

“You may want to get a haircut too. They can ding us for a lot of stuff. Hair, nails, uniform, bed …,” she indicated the racks. They were still clean and neat. “Dust,” she indicated the single desk and chair. “Anything.”

“Oh. Was that what that was about? Those kids getting balled out for having food?”

Katya nodded. “Yeah.”

“Oh. Damn,” the girl bit her lip. “What did I get myself into?” she muttered before she got to work. “Can you ah … help me?”

“You don’t have the implant module?”

“Um, I’m not sure how to access it. What was your name again?”

“Katya. Here,” the older woman pulled up her HUD and sent the girl a text. She had to patiently explain how to access the implants while they exchanged contact information. Along the way, she got a bit of the girl’s backstory. Norma had been a wet merchant officer on a ship on her homeworld before jumping at the chance to join the navy.

They bonded a little as they got squared away. She learned a bit about how it was important to share knowledge and help each other. You could know everything with your implants but if you didn't share that information or know how to access it then it wasn't worth spit.

She also learned that they could be penalized for infractions that were collective. If one failed, they all failed, just like on a ship. It was a bit hard to take in. There were a lot of concepts to absorb, and they definitely liked to leave the plebes to flounder and find their own level.

A female senior cadet came around and did an inspection. They could see outside the door where a pair of males were getting balled out by another senior cadet across the corridor. The girls were nervous but resigned to what was about to happen.

“Been through this before?” the woman asked.

“Pilot, ma’am,” Katya volunteered.

That earned a bit of side eye. “I didn’t ask for your life history. Very well. Which of you got the demerits?”

“I did, ma’am,” Katya sighed internally.

“You’ll have to work them off Friday. Don’t let Brian or Ferris catch you looking bad. No food in the dorm rooms obviously,” the woman sniffed. “Make sure your room and appearance are clean and neat at all times. Regs are regs, stick to them. If you get dinged, don’t offer an excuse, just accept the punishment. If you try to fight it, you will just end up sorry and sore. This is the navy—right way, wrong way, navy way. You have the rules in your implants. Read them and live by them or be sorry.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the two ladies responded in unison.

“Trying to stay under the radar works for some. You get by better if you remember to work as a team, just like on a ship. Get mouthy and uppity and you’ll pay for it,” the woman said as she leveled a look on Katya again. Katya didn’t rise to the bait and kept her own counsel.

“Seriously, familiarize yourself with your implants, regs, and honor code, all of it. You need to be a sponge, quiet but absorbing everything. Eyes, ears, and no mouth unless required. Can I get a read back?”

“Be a sponge, ma’am—eyes, ears, and no mouth unless required,” the two women replied in ragged unison. Norma Jean hesitated a little but fell into place with Katya’s impersonal tone of voice.

The senior cadet nodded curtly.

“Protocol too. I know it is a lot. Sir or ma’am is fine. Right now you are Larva, the lowest of the low. A plebe. Get used to it. The only way out is to quit or upwards. Figure your path out. If you can’t hack the class load, well, there are tutorials, and there are cadets who can help. Don’t drown.”

Katya noted Norma Jean ready to ask something but the woman’s eyes shifted to her. The girl gulped and straightened up, swallowing back her question instantly.

“Don’t get stupid and raise a sexual complaint unless you record it. If you do file one, all hell will come down on you so be careful. No one has time for that crap so don’t be too sensitive. Some of the guys will press you just to push a button. They’ll be recording too. Get a reputation as a tattletale and you’ll make yourself a target. So don’t.”

The two didn’t know what to say so they remained silent.

She gave them a few more looks and then left.

Norma Jean sighed and sat on the bed. Katya noted it instantly ruined the sharp folds but said nothing. She just shook her head.

“What have I gotten myself into?” the other woman said with a sigh.

Katya was wondering the same thing.

<<<*>>>