Chapter 10: Discovering the New Training

About ten minutes later I was finally able to extract my body from Bryn’s arms. My blond-haired concubine reluctantly allowed Jade to lead her from the dining area and head off into one of the side rooms.

Jade was whispering to Bryn as they left. My old friend had looked back at me and winked confidently just before the duo vanished from my sight. I tried to sit quietly and confidently until they left.

As soon as the door closed to the room, they were entering I sighed and gazed at the ceiling. “Are all concubines like that at first?” I asked rhetorically.

“Not all concubines adjust well, but analysis of successful households suggests that having concubines as devoted as Bryn tends to result in higher morale and less problems,” the AI said.

“Really?” I said with more than a little surprise. “I’ll have to think about that. Meanwhile, do you have any estimate on when more training will be available for me?”

“You can use the sleep trainer,” the AI offered.

“I hate that idea. I want to feel the controls and get to try them out. The best way to learn is by doing,” I replied. “Are there really no simulators?”

“Your training room is still reconfiguring. There is a gathering of people on your training track. Well, on the enlisted level, you are an officer candidate. Would you like to attend?” the AI said.

“I guess that makes sense, and I can learn a bit by talking to everyone. Where is it?” I asked.

“The meeting room on this floor of the transport is hosting the meeting. It will start in twenty minutes,” the AI replied.

I looked down at my uniform. It was clean. Turning towards the side room where Jade and Bryn were, I shouted. “I’m going to head out. There’s another meeting I’d like to attend. Just stay home and work on walking.”

“Don’t hurt anyone,” Jade called back merrily.

I laughed and walked out of our home. Jade definitely worked hard to keep me entertained. The halls were again almost empty as I made the short walk to the meeting room at the spine of the ship.

The room was open and I noticed that there was a light board next to it announcing a meeting for Goddess Class Gunners. I had to laugh at that as I walked into the room.

There was a small line of tables near a replicator. Nothing was on the tables though and I noticed the rest of the room was filled with taller tables designed for people to stand next to. I went over to the replicator and asked for a pineapple juice and a croissant.

My order appeared and I claimed it before walking to one of the standing tables. I waited there as I tried to order my thoughts. I knew almost nothing of the Goddess class ships and the idea that I was going to command one was daunting.

A few minutes later a young woman strutted into the room. She was tall and slender with bronzed skin and black hair. The woman looked around and then walked up to me with feral confidence. She held out her hand. “I don’t remember you from my pickup or orientation. Estefani Avila. You can call me Este.”

Her voice had an exotic accent. It was obvious that she was not from the United States. I smiled as I took her hand. “Tanya Walker. Where were you picked up.”

Estefani smiled. “Believe it or not I was at a basketball camp in the US. My school sent both our men’s and women’s teams.”

“You were at that pickup? I heard about it. Wasn’t it interrupted by some terrorists?” I asked.

Estefani nodded. “Yes. The marines had everyone use the teleport to escape and then finished the pickup. I think everyone on my team was picked up.”

“Any of your teammates have a CAP score?” I asked.

Estefani laughed. “They all did, but if you are asking about qualifying scores, there were three of us. The rest were selected as concubines. Most of the men were selected as well, although I didn’t take one.”

“I met one of your teammates yesterday. Pabiola was at a social event I went to. I talked to her new mistress,” I said.

Estefani nodded. “I didn’t see who selected her. So, what do you think of the training so far? Have you sat through the gunner run-through?”

I sighed. “I was switched from training to be an officer on the Patrician class to command track for Goddess ships. From what I was told by the AI, there is a new ship at our destination and the Admiral prefers to staff new ships from recent pickups.”

“We already have a ship?” Estefani asked.

“The Goddess class ship Freya will be released by the repair docks at Moreton after undergoing final outfitting. She will be in orbit around Borneo when you arrive,” the AI said.

“How many gunners are being trained?” I asked. “We need three officers and thirty-seven enlisted gunners to operate the full complement of gunballs, correct?”

“Yes,” the AI replied. “Princess Victoria has a full one thousand recruits. Two hundred are undergoing gunner training.”

“So many when you only need forty?” Estefani asked suspiciously. She looked up at the ceiling and I could see her eyes narrow.

“Gunballs do not have a lot of shielding and casualty rates can be high. Replacement gunners are always needed,” the AI replied.

Estefani took a step away from the table. I reached out and put a hand on her arm. “We’ll just have to be so good we never lose anyone. Why don’t you grab a drink and then we can continue to chat? I’d like to hear your thoughts on how the Goddess class ships should run.”

The young woman nodded and then headed over to the replicator. Her walk was much more subdued as she continued to look up at the ceiling. I was so distracted by her antics that I was surprised when someone slid up to the table and set a mug on it.

“Damn,” a teenage boy said. “Why is it I keep meeting women who remind me of supermodels?”

I snorted. “You do realize that the technology available to us allows you to make your concubines look like supermodels.”

“That wouldn’t be much fun. And Cathy would complain about that. She already has found enough reasons to whine,” the boy said.

I turned to look more closely at the boy. He was sixteen and had that thin and gawky build that suggested he was only partly through his growth spurt. He noticed my gaze and shrugged. “So, I’m still growing. I managed a six five CAP and when the basketball camp became a pickup, I was able to join up.”

“And you took your concubines from the girls’ teams?” I asked.

“Yeah, there were a few teachers, but most of them just frowned and sat in the corners of the ship after we had to evacuate. There was some news lady there with a cameraman. The woman got picked up by some Brazilian boy. I’m just glad there were more girl’s teams than boys,” the boy said.

I nodded and held out my hand. “Tanya Walker. I was picked up during a company awards ceremony held in Vegas.”

The boy nodded. “You seemed too old to have been at a high school basketball camp unless you were a coach. Jason James from Roosevelt High in Missouri.”

“As opposed to how many other Roosevelt High Schools in the US,” I said with a laugh.

Estefani walked up. She was carrying a mug and a small glass with an amber liquid. Jason looked at the glass. “Is that alcohol?” he asked.

Estefani nodded. “I need it after what I just heard from the AI.” The young woman tossed the amber drink back like she had been drinking for years. She immediately began coughing.

“What the fuck?” she asked.

“I was going to warn you,” Jason said. “I’ve talked to many people. The replicators all produce alcoholic beverages that are almost undrinkable.”

“Almost?” I asked.

“You can swallow them, but I have yet to hear of anyone who enjoys drinking it. One of the guys I asked says he thinks its deliberate,” Jason said with a shrug. “So, what was the news that was so upsetting. Its only day three of our training.”

Estefani nodded towards me. “Tanya here told me that a bunch of us will be assigned to a new ship that will be waiting when we get to Borneo.”

“Borneo?” Jason said. “Wait, I’ve heard of that planet.”

“How?” I asked. “I thought there was a news blackout so that people on Earth never panicked. After all, from what I’ve heard the Sa’arm outnumber us quite a bit.”

Jason nodded. “No official news comes, but some of the pickup marines will say things, and occasionally someone who is picked up writes back to people still on Earth. There are a couple of people who work to gather any information that makes it to Earth.”

“And Borneo has been mentioned?” Estefani asked. “Is that a good thing?”

“If it’s the planet I think it is, it was settled in the first wave, right after the Average Joes special. I guess there are some planets with our alien benefactors living on them nearby and the planet was intended to provide a local defensive base,” Jason said. “The only other thing I’ve heard has been a strange rumor.”

“Strange?” I asked.

“Some pickup marines have started trying to get their hands on seeds. Any seeds, although ones for vegetables are the most popular. The seeds always end up heading to Borneo for some reason. There is a trade involved, but the few messages that reach the boards I browsed never said what people could receive. Just that seeds were sought,” Jason said.

“That fits the term strange,” I said with a laugh. “But its too late for any of us to look for seeds. Instead, we’re supposed to be preparing to crew a Goddess class ship.”

Two more people had walked in as I finished my sentence. One was a tall and thin girl with long blond hair. She immediately moved to stand at the table next to ours. The other was a young man wearing a hoodie. The front of the hoodie contained the image of a busty woman with fox ears, black hair and multiple white fox tails surrounding her.

“Ahri?” Jason asked as the man came up to the table.

“Hey, she’s great,” the man said. “Douglas, but I go by ShesMyKitsune in League.”

“What?” Estefani asked.

“I’m guessing its one of the many online combat games. Which explains why Douglas was picked up and selected for gunner training. He’s already trained his reflexes and is probably used to trying to keep track of multiple targets in a fast-moving environment,” I replied.