Chapter 1

My name is Samuel Hall, but I prefer Sam. My wife decided I needed to leave a written record for my kids; so when they are old enough, they can read about how I became a D-Hopper and how that event affected my life. She says I leave a lot out when I just tell a story, but not when I write out something that happened to me. That is why I wrote this account. I decided the best starting point was what my life on Everett was like before I became a D-Hopper.

Everett is in the Khel universe and it’s not a very exciting planet. Industry on Everett is divided between manufacture of textiles, harvest of exotic trees for lumber, fishing, and agriculture. With the exception of the textile industry, there is very little manufacturing done on the planet. That is why, I am happy to consider myself from Everett. The average citizen on Everett will tell you it is a very good place to live, and it is. But, if you want excitement in your life, other than a bar fight, you won’t find it there.

I was born and raised in Teal and the city is a moderately large seaport on Everett. I was basically an only child with two loving and very supportive parents. Before I started school, my friends and I did the usual things young children did while hanging out at each other’s houses. Once I was old enough for school, things changed. Initially, my friends and I didn’t get homework, so we played outside once we got home. After a while, we started getting homework assignments. Unlike some of my friends’ parents, mine had a firm rule: homework first, and then play. My Mom and Dad, Harold and Sandy Hall, were easy going and let me get away with a lot, except for when it came to my education. After my homework was done, my friends and I played the usual games like Whaler; we all wanted to be the harpooner and had to take turns. When we were old enough, we spent our school holidays helping our parents at work.

My Dad owned a large fishing trawler. After I was eight-years old, my school holidays and vacations were spent working on the trawler with my Dad and his crew. I started out as the Ship’s Boy. My duties were mainly helping the Cook, and on occasion, I got to help the Net Handlers repair the nets. When I was very young, I mostly helped the Cook for I didn’t have the strength to handle the nets. I was fairly strong by the time I turned ten, and that was when net repair was officially added to my shipboard duties.

My Dad talked with me on my fifteenth birthday. He believed that I had developed the musculature to handle the nets, or I was at least strong enough to start in the position of Net Handler, Level 1. Level 1 signified that I was a Net Handler’s assistant. A net handler has four basic tasks:

1. Pull the nets out of their storage bins and feed them overboard while the trawler surrounded a school of fish.

2. Retrieve the nets and dump the fish into the sorting tank.

3. Inspect the nets for damage and repair any damage.

4. Pack the nets into their storage bins after they are inspected.

When we weren’t busy with the nets, we helped out with anything that needed to be done on the trawler. There was always something that needed to be done, so we were kept busy all day and sometimes into the evening hours.

I returned to school after my first summer as a Net Handler. Three weeks before our first school holiday, I woke up with a strange feeling. At first, I thought I was sick, but that didn’t feel right. As I sat on the edge of my bed, it occurred to me that I might be experiencing the onset of the D-Hop ability.

“Mom, I’m not feeling good.”

“What’s wrong, Sam? Stomach problems again, or is it your allergies acting up?”

“No, neither of those things, Mom. It doesn’t feel like a head cold or one of the flu bugs that are going around. I think that I may be getting the D-Hop ability. I have a funny light feeling in my head, and the other symptoms are almost exactly what were described to us in school.”

“You know what this means, Sam. It’s the hospital for you this morning, instead of school. I doubt that is what is wrong with you, and he has too much on his mind running the trawler; unless it’s true. So, I won’t talk with your father about this, until we have a better idea of what is wrong with you.”

“Alright, Mom, I rather suspected that you would want me to go to the doctor’s office and get tested.”

One of the hospital’s doctors examined me and performed the initial test for the D-Hop ability, but the results were inconclusive. He said that there was a very good chance that I was becoming a D-Hopper; but if so, I was in the very early stage of developing the ability. In other words, it was too early to be certain, but that is what he thought was happening to me. He recommended my Mom bring me back in two weeks. However, before I left the hospital, he gave me a shot of No-Hop. This was to inhibit the D-Hop ability, just in case that was what was happening to me. I would have to come back every five days for follow-up shots.

Mom commed Dad over the ShipNet, and let him know what the doctor told us. When Mom put me on the comm, Dad commiserated with me about being sick, and I confessed my concerns to him. He told me it would be best for us to discuss it when he got back into port. The ShipNet was a public communications link, after all. Everyone in the fleet could listen in on our conversation, if they wanted to do so, and we may not want to air certain things publically.

Two weeks later, I began a series of tests. The first test confirmed that I was definitely developing the D-Hop ability. The remaining tests were to determine, if my ability and personality were suitable for me to become a professional D-Hopper. I was thinking about whether I wanted to be a D-Hopper, while the doctors were determining the strength of my ability, my mental and emotional stability, and my aptitude for the D-Hop profession.

While I was being tested, I had the opportunity to talk with members of the D-Hopping Guild. They explained the differences between what the public believed was true about D-Hopping and D-Hoppers, and the reality of what it was like to live and work as a D-Hopper. The reality was very different from what the entertainment industry portrayed.

I learned that regardless of what our entertainment industry portrays, not everyone who develops the D-Hop ability actually wants to become a D-Hopper. The entertainment industry also portrays all D-Hoppers going into the field of Exploration D-Hopping. I guess Commercial D-Hopping is too mundane and lacking in adventure for them and their audiences.

When my friends at school learned I was developing the D-Hop ability, they congratulated me. They also let me know, they wished it would happen to them, so they could live somewhere other than Everett. They viewed my developing the D-Hop ability as my ticket off Everett. But I wasn’t sure that I wanted to escape. I enjoyed being out on the trawler with my Dad and his crew. That was the only life I knew, and I liked that lifestyle.

The day after Dad got back into port, we sat on the porch and talked. I told him about what my friends had said, and about how I felt about becoming a fisherman. Dad kept our conversation focused on what I wanted to do; rather than on what he thought I should do. In the process, I learned that I wasn’t sure about what I wanted or should do.

After Dad’s questions led me to an impasse, Dad said, “Sam, being a fisherman is a very good profession. But, it is also a very hard and dangerous way of earning a living. There are other ways to earn a living that are better and easier than fishing. Becoming a D-Hopper may be a good choice for you. It is a very respectable profession, and it can be very profitable. Depending on the type of D-Hopping you choose, it can also be a very dangerous profession, and very hard on your personal life.

“In the next few weeks you need to make a decision: pursue a career as a D-Hopper, or take the End Hop medication that will destroy your D-Hop ability. If you take the medicine, your opportunity to pursue this career will be gone, forever. You will never know if it would have been a good career for you. If you move forward on this career path, you may find D-Hopping is something that you enjoy even more than fishing. If, later, it turns out that D-Hopping is not for you; then you can always take the End Hop, and come back to Everett and fish for a living. The choice is yours to make, Sam. Think about it. You don’t need to make a decision immediately.”

My Dad’s advice was a revelation. I had not considered the option of trying the D-Hopping career to see if it was right for me. I had only seen two choices; commit to and remain a fisherman, or become a D-Hopper for the rest of my life. I suppose Dad’s experience gave him the wisdom to see that there were more than two options for me. Maybe, I will gain the wisdom to see things like that, as I get older.

I decided that Dad’s suggestion was the best thing for me. Before he left port again, Mom and Dad took me to the local D-Hopping Guild’s office, and helped me to apply for admittance to the D-Hopping University on Vora. During my interview with the local Guild Master, he accessed the test results that the hospital had sent to the Guild, so he could evaluate my potential.

He said, “Sam, from what I can see of your test results, you definitely have a strong enough ability to become a Professional D-Hopper. However, your personality tests indicate that you do not have the traits that would allow you to be by yourself for long periods of time. You are not a loner. You are the type of person who needs companions that you can spend time with, on frequent occasions. That personality trait means you would not be a good candidate for the Explorer D-Hopping Program. If you want to pursue D-Hopping as a career, I would recommend that you enroll in the Commercial D-Hopping Program.”

“Do I have to make a decision now?”

“No, Sam, that’s not necessary. The Guild does not require an immediate decision. Many D-Hoppers make their final decision during the time they are taking the basic series of D-Hopping courses. You can even change you career paths after you graduate. All you have to do is take the necessary advanced lessons for the other career path. However, I will indicate I have recommended you for the University’s Commercial Program. You are not required to follow that recommendation, Sam. So if you want to become an Explorer, then it is your right to choose that career field.”

When, I learned that my application had been approved, I was ecstatic. I was to report to the D-Hopping Guild’s office in two weeks, because the next class for D-Hoppers was due to start in about three weeks. They wanted everyone to arrive at the University early, so we could complete the registration for classes, get our room assignments, and receive our student and orientation briefings. Dad was out to sea on the day I was to leave, so Mom took me to the Guild Office. We said our goodbyes, and a D-Hopper hopped me and two other students to the University on Vora. Actually, the D-Hopper had the two students with him when he arrived on Everett, and we made two stops along the way to pick up five additional students.

We arrived at the University in midmorning, and they immediately assigned the eight of us to two-person rooms. My roommate and I were total opposites in personality. We both agreed that we would never make it as roommates. We decided to swap roommates, as soon as we could possibly make the arrangements, which happened that afternoon. My roommate found someone he thought would be a good roommate, so he swapped rooms with another student.

My new roommate, Phil Brant, towered over me by ten inches, and outweighed me by more than forty pounds. I wasn’t what you would call small, and my experiences as a Cabin Boy and assistant Net Handler had left me well muscled and stronger than most guys my age. But this guy was massive, and it was all muscle.

When we first met, he had a scowl on his face. So, the first time he looked me up and down, I got ready to run. Then, he said hello. His voice was so mild and non-threatening, that I stayed and talked. As it turned out, he was a very nice guy. I later learned that he was a nice guy as long as you didn’t get on his wrong side. It was hard to get on his wrong side, but if you ever managed to do it, you needed to stay well clear of him. At least, until he forgave you for whatever you did to piss him off. That usually took a couple of weeks, even for a minor incident. He really wasn’t into forgiveness.

Three days before our classes were due to start, we started our Indoctrination and Student Briefings. The briefings described the University’s curriculum, payment plans, registration process, and what was expected of us as students.

The structure of the curriculum, as it was explained to us, was fairly simple. All D-Hoppers required a basic knowledge set. This knowledge would be conveyed to us during our first year as a set of introductory classes in the various subjects we all needed to learn. Introductory did not mean simple, it just meant some of us did not need the more advanced knowledge of certain topics. If advanced knowledge was needed by an Explorer or a Commercial student, it was presented as an advanced class, during our second year. If we survived our second year of instruction, the University would provide us with the opportunity to enroll in optional courses.

The optional courses consisted mostly of the advanced Commercial and Explorer courses presented to the other program’s students during their second year. However, some of the first year courses did not have an advanced course in either program during the second year. If you wanted advanced information on those subjects, it was available to the students of both programs, as an optional course.

The Commercial and the Explorer D-Hopping Programs are, nominally, two-year programs; although each program’s duration can vary, due to a student electing to repeat one or more of the classes. The Basic and Advanced Commercial D-Hopping classes would teach me the structure of the Multiverse, Cultural Diplomacy, Commercial Trade Law, the nature of the Fourth Dimension, basic search algorithms, use of lethal and non-lethal weapons, recognition of dangerous animals and plants, and many other subjects. Most of the subjects were directly related to Commerce, but we were also introduced to a few of the Advanced Exploration subjects that might be useful to us if we got lost. Basically, they taught the subjects in class. However, during our second year, we did receive a minimum of hands-on experience. It was just enough that we might survive in a hazardous Explorer-like situation. Basically, that type of situation should not happen to a Commercial D-Hopper; unfortunately, it does to a few of us, every year.

The University’s explanation of their payment plans was identical to what the Guild Master back on Everett explained to my mom and me. There were two payment plans: the ‘Pay as You Go’ plan and the ‘Deferred Payment’ plan.

The ‘Pay as You Go’ plan was computed as the cost of room and board for the instruction period plus the Course Fee, which was the long-term, prorated cost of presenting all of the courses we needed to take during a year, plus a five percent profit. It was explained to us that developing a class was expensive. The total cost of developing a course and the estimated costs for updating and presenting the course for a hundred years were prorated across the number of classes the University expected to present during that period. After that period, the development costs were not included in the course’s fee, and the cost of attending the course decreased. For this plan, payment was due at the time the student registered for their year of classes. On this plan, the students had to pay for the equipment and supplies they purchased at the Student Store.

The ‘Deferred Payment’ plan was computed as the cost of the ‘Pay as You Go’ plan plus a Recovery Fee that was equal to thirty percent of the ‘Pay as You Go’ plan’s cost, plus the cost of any equipment and supplies purchased on credit at the Student Store. The University established a payment plan with the first payment due six months after the D-Hopper graduated from the University, and they only charged ten percent interest on the outstanding balance.

When the Guild Master on Everett first described the two plans to Mom and me, he told us the nominal cost of the Explorer and Commercial programs. My mom and I knew my folks could not afford the ‘Pay as You Go’ plan. My mom had asked the Guild Master to explain the purpose of the Recovery Fee.

The Guild Master had a strange look on his face, as in a somber tone he said, “Missus Hall, D-Hopping is one of the more dangerous professions in the Multiverse. It is not uncommon for a D-Hopper to die during training, or shortly after graduating.

“If Sam selects the ‘Deferred Payment’ plan, the contract for repaying the University for the training he will receive is binding between him and the University. The University needs to at least break even financially, and preferably make a profit on the education it provides to D-Hoppers. If and when your son or one of his classmates dies in training, or soon after they graduate, it is unlikely that the University will be able to recover the outstanding amount the person owes for their training.