The Apprentice Starship Engineer: Book One The Link (20 page)

She walked around me, inspecting me. She took hold of my arm and squeezed. “Hmm,” she said as she stopped in front of me.

She made me nervous. I started babbling. “Doc Weston said he’d help me. Said he’d get forty pounds of muscle on me in six months. I meet with him at six and seventeen hundred every day.”

“So, when do you propose to train with me?”

“From twenty hundred to twenty-two hundred.”

Lorenda laughed. “You wouldn’t make such a schedule for a week, kid.”

I stepped toward her. “Yes, I will. I’ll do it or you won’t have to train me.”

“No way. I’ll train you three days a week, two hour sessions each. You can practice on your own as much as you want. See you at twenty hundred tomorrow. Wear a cup and loose clothes. She held out her hand. “Deal.”

“Deal,” I said, taking her hand. Her grip was firm.

* * * *

Margret went off. It was oh five hundred. I rolled out of bed, went into the bathroom and started my morning routine. First, washing out my eye socket and inserting my eye, which was always a strange process. Then the usual shave, but this morning I didn’t bother showering, just brushed my teeth. Following Doctor Weston’s instructions, I put four scoops of his green powder into a glass and filled it up with warm water. The only thing more disgusting than the look of the mess was the smell. I leaned my head back and poured the gross, slimy, lumpy mass down my throat and found the taste made both the look and smell enjoyable. I almost gagged, but managed to keep it in my stomach.

I entered the gym ten minutes early and started to stretch out carefully.

“Stop it, you won’t do anything if you arrive early, just wait for me. Don’t do anything without my permission during our gym time,” he said. “Did you drink my powder this morning?”

“Yes. It was an interesting experience.”

“Don’t complain. You wanted this. You’re going to build cartilage that can support a large muscle mass. So we’re going to be working out with light weights and high reps to keep your joints moving.” He picked up two twenty pound weights. “Watch, we start on the floor, then do a curl, then press straight up. Got it?” I nodded. He handed me the weights. “Go one hundred now.” Light weights get heavy fast.

* * * *

Lorenda gave me a hand up from the floor. It’d been ten months since I’d started training with her. I was learning fast, but the reason I was on the floor was I hadn’t learned fast enough.

Every morning I left the gym feeling as if I couldn’t possibly make it through the day. Then after work, I’d hit the gym again. By the time I got to Lorenda I was half-dead. She worked me another two hours, pulling no punches, and I’d be staggering by the time I made it to my room.

It was Friday night. Saturday I planned to go with Brice and get in a real fight. As I entered the dojo, I had a moment of confusion, and stumbled before catching myself.

Lorenda scowled. “Are you too tired to train tonight?”

I smiled. “No, I’m okay.”

Lorenda had a very long series of moves she started to teach me. Then we spared for the last hour. If I made a mistake or didn’t use good enough form, she’d stop and go over it, making me practice it several times. She always kept me on the edge of total failure. Sometimes it was discouraging. It never seemed as though I learned anything. She was always stopping me, criticizing me. I was always wrong, but she never had to correct me about the same thing twice.

Saturday I met Brice, who looked nervous and glad to see me. “Come on, then let’s be off.” I caught up to him in two steps. “I got a fight for you. He’s good. Should be a good fight.”

Brice led me into a hanger area. In the center was an arena and about twenty people were hanging around. “Brice, is that your man? Shit. Look, it’s the apprentice janitor,” the large man said, “Brice, we’re just going to take your money again.”

I recognized the man. Mattey Lacrosse. He was the same one who’d refused to give me directions when I’d first boarded the
Armstrong
, and the man who’d beat Sandra. Constant training, the fatigue, Sandra, and don’t forget Bob. All of it roared in my chest. I wanted to fight.

“Are we here to fight or talk my ear off?” I growled.

“Take your shirt off so I don’t ruin it with your blood,” he said as he took off his.

I tossed mine to Brice. “I want half your bets, Brice.”

A young woman with spiky heels walked into the ring. “The rules are the first person to hit the mat loses. No hitting or kicking the person who’s down.” She looked at Mattey. “I mean it. You won’t fight again if you break the rules.” She wiggled her way across the ring. “Okay, boys, go at it,” she called from the side.

I moved into the ring. It was as though someone else were going in and not me. I watched from a distance. He landed a good hit on my cheek, causing my head to ring, bringing me into the fight. Blocking his next punch, I countered with a hit to his neck, then I hit his nose with the heel of my hand. He staggered back, recovering, then blocked my next punch and caught me with a quick one to the ribs and a strike to my jaw. We stood toe to toe, trading punches and kicks. I stepped forward, striking him in the chin with a nice quick, solid punch. He staggered, recovered and returned with a kick to my side. I gasped for air.

He danced around. “Now I’m going to hurt you.”

Stepping forward, he sent a kick to my head, which I ducked and punched him in his exposed ribcage. He grunted with pain as I hit him in the face with two quick punches, raising welts on his jaw. I kept pounding him with a kick to his side and another to his chest, causing him to step back. Moving forward, I hit him in his throat and chin, sending him to the mat. He lay there, not moving. It was fast, just a moment, and it was over. I could fight again. The adrenalin pounded through my veins. I was high. Brice tossed my shirt at me and then went around the room collecting on his bets.

Looking at the man as he was helped to his feet, I realized he was no match for me, and that I was a good fighter or, at least, better than him. I felt gratitude for Lorenda and Dr. Wilson’s help. The best way to repay them was to stop the Link.

Monday, after a very grueling evening workout, I paused, turning to Dr. Weston. “You’ve spent a lot of time with me, and I want to thank you for everything.”

“It’s been a pleasure. You do as I say, work hard and have made great progress.”

We stood looking at each other. What Kathy said,
Guys should just hug
, flashed through my mind. “So, tomorrow at six then?” He nodded.

That evening after Lorenda finished instructing me, I turned to her. “Lorenda, thank you for teaching me.”

She looked me over. “My pleasure. You don’t have to worry about officer’s training. It’ll be a cake walk for you. Heard that someone beat Mattey on Saturday night. He’s hard to beat. You have to be good to whip him.  So if you want, we can stop. I suggest you work out with everyone else in the dojo.”

“I want to continue.”

“If you change your mind, just let me know. I’ve never had a student who was as good as you. I was on planet, and I know you’re a good leader. Fleet needs you.” She held out her hand. “I consider you a friend. I hope you feel the same way.”

“Of course, a friend.”

* * * *

The
Armstrong
was met by a military ship. We weren’t allowed to contact anyone. After we approached
New Star
, a crew boarded, and we were confined to our quarters. We landed and were herded into a large meeting room. The base commander addressed us. He reminded us of the government security papers we’d signed before the voyage, then classified the whole thing. Nothing was to be disclosed about the nature or discoveries.

“If you’re asked, the voyage was a bust. You went out and found nothing. It was a waste of government money, time and effort. All records are sealed, and any dissemination of information will be met with criminal prosecution.”

“Sir,” a man in the front row said, “what about our flight logs, pay and training records?”

The commander looked at a man next to him and nodded. “We’ll adjust them to give you credit for your time, provided it doesn’t give away any information about the journey.”

Jack nudged my shoulder. “You now have three years toward your license. Only one to go, kid.”

As I left the auditorium, an officer, Thornby, asked me to follow him. He led me to a small office. “Mr. Wilson, I understand you want to join fleet as an officer. Is that correct?” he asked as he sat behind the desk. “Please take a seat.”

“Thank you. Yes, you heard correctly.”

“Great. Captain Ramon sent a wonderful letter about you and your accomplishments, but it’s sealed. We decided to make an exception for you. We can get you into a class.”

“Ah, thank you, sir.”

He smiled as he slid a reader over to me. “We have documents for you to sign. You understand?”

I hadn’t signed the non-disclosure agreements before the
Armstrong
left Mars. The first document on the reader was a one for the
Armstrong’s
voyage. The rest were legalize, and one document that spelled the term of my enlistment as four years. If I washed out of OTS, I’d have to finish my four years as enlisted personnel. I signed the documents without hesitation, but wondered what would happen if they found Margret or the core safely hidden in the case Sandra had given me.

He reviewed the documents and then told me to rise. “Mr. Wilson, raise your right hand and repeat after me. I pledge to uphold the constitution of the human race. I pledge to obey the lawful orders of my superior officers. I pledge to protect the second parliament and the prime minister from all aggressors. I pledge to protect mankind.”

As I repeated the pledges, I wondered why parliament was ahead of mankind.

The End