Chapter 3

Hyperjumps could only occur outside the four inner planets, so the shuttle took two and a half Earth days to arrive at Terraforce Academy on the moon Deimos around the planet Mars. It was interesting for the ten selected students to finally meet face-to-face.

The students were greeted at the space dock by a man and a woman.

"Welcome cadets," Sirrah said.

Novia liked hearing that word. Cadet. She was a Terraforce cadet!

"All girls follow me," Sirrah said. Novia, Lyra, Ouranie, Cassio, and Ceres animatedly trailed after her.

"Boys over here," Androme said. Orion, Perion, Pyx, Castor and Thabit headed through another door.

Sirrah led the girls into a chamber.

"Place all clothing and jewelry in the bins," Sirrah said. "We must go through decontamination every time we enter Terraforce." She began to undress.

The boys were next door in an identical chamber.

Androme said to them, "We live in a controlled environment. We don't wear clothing because it has a way of carrying bacteria. The only time you will wear anything is when you are in your flight suits which is almost all the time. The constant nudity may feel awkward at first. If anyone is too uncomfortable with it, let me know now and you'll be on the first shuttle home."

"Good. I thought everyone would want to stay," Sirrah said to the girls. "This way."

Androme led the boys into another room. Orion and others followed his example and lifted their arms.

The mist or air or whatever it was felt strange on Novia's skin. It didn't burn and it wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't a feeling she liked.

The feeling was most intense at Orion's feet and started to move up both legs. He was nervous when it reached his penis and testicles, but it didn't hurt.

Novia was glad when it moved past her vagina. It almost tickled not that she'd admit that to anybody. It also reminded her that she was a little horny and maybe she should have finally let Rigylin fuck her before she left Earth.

"Your erections are a natural reaction," Androme said. "They will go away soon."

Novia gasped when the focus was on her breasts. All the girls had hard nipples. She felt embarrassed that here she was being decontaminated before entry into Terraforce Academy and all she could think about was sex at the moment.

Orion was freaked out. It was on his face and he couldn't close his eyes. All he could do was stare straight out immobilized.

"I never get used to that," Sirrah told the girls. "You have to be deconned after every flight, so I've done it thousands of times but it still feels freaky."

There was a wind cycle next that made Orion and everybody cold.

"Medical is next," Sirrah said. The girls followed down the corridor.

There was a large curtain down the middle of the medical office. Orion could hear the girls on the other side of it.

Novia took a look at her arm only after they pricked it to take a couple of vials of blood. She wasn't squeamish about it, but she didn't really like to see it.

Orion breathed deeply several times. He wondered how long the medical exam would last.

Novia grunted when her breasts were checked for abnormalities.

"This is to establish a baseline of your health," said Androme. "We don't expect to find anything, but we need to know for sure."

"Back the way we came," Sirrah said, pointing at the door when the exams were finished. They walked down the corridor and stopped at a door halfway down on the right.

Sirrah placed her hand on the sensor pad and said, "Sirrah."

The door slid open into the wall and closed behind them.

Novia took the room all in. There were five identical double beds, three on her right, and two on her left, and a sixth bed at the end of the room that was on a raised platform. It had to be Sirrah's bed and she would live with them.

"Can we choose any bed we want?" asked Cassio.

"No. I'll tell you your assignments in a second. When you are not in training, this room is where you will spend most of your time. The two doors on the left are GameNet rooms. Through the door over there..." She pointed to the right. " ... are toilets, sinks, and showers. Meals are..."

Sirrah stopped because the entrance door opened. Androme and the boys came in.

"There you are," said Sirrah.

"The lab had a couple of problems after you left," Androme explained.

The boys and girls instinctively covered up but there was no such reaction between Androme and Sirrah.

"I was just explaining the room layout," Sirrah said.

"Good," Androme said. "Two GameNet rooms are over there. Toilet and showers there. Sirrah and I will sleep on that bed." He pointed at the raised bed.

"Meals are in the cafeteria," added Sirrah.

"That should be it."

"Yes."

"Okay, we will give out your bed pairings. Ceres, hunter, bed five," Androme pointed her to the first bed on the left."

"Thabit, shooter," said Sirrah, pointing.

"The same bed?" Thabit said confused.

"Yes."

"Cassio, hunter," Androme said, eliminating the chance to ask more questions.

"Castor, shooter," said Sirrah

They were bed four the first one from the door on the right.

"Ouranie, shooter," Sirrah called out next.

"Pyx, hunter."

After they were assigned bed three, the second on the left, Lyra, shooter, and Perion, hunter, were assign bed two, the second on the right. It left only the third bed on the left and two cadets.

"Novia, shooter," Sirrah said.

"Orion, hunter," Androme said.

"We're sharing a bed?" Novia asked perplexed and revolted.

"Yes," said Androme. "You are bunked together by compatibility."

"There's no way I'm compatible with her!" Orion exploded.

"There must be a mistake. I don't like him. He's a jerk!" Novia protested.

"Right! There's a mistake," Orion said. "But she's the jerk."

Androme said, "Oh, there's no mistake. The system is very good at matching you. You will share a bunk"

"But Orion has more in common with Ceres," said Novia.

"I don't understand the system," said Sirrah, "but I know it works. I am a shooter and Androme is a hunter. Our skills are matched excellently."

Perion thought he understood. "So each pair is a top pilot and a top laser?"

"Yes," said Androme. "Sirrah and I must go and complete documentation on your arrival. We want you to sleep now. You will need it."

"But..." said Novia.

Sirrah cut her off. "We can answer more of your questions tomorrow."

She and Androme left.

Novia and Orion looked at the double bed.

"Don't touch me!" she threatened.

"It wasn't even a thought."

"You're a bad liar."

"You better keep your hands to yourself! Don't give me a squeeze while I'm asleep."

"You are so deluded."

"You're the deluded one!"

"Just stay on your side. Deal?"

"Deal. Compatibility! Ha!"

"Face it! You like me! I bet that's why we're matched. I just don't like you!"

"Go to sleep, okay?"

"You first and stop staring at my tits. Understand?"

"Oh, please. We're all naked here." He shook his head. "How about we lie down at the same time?"

"Alright, but I'm not falling asleep until you're asleep!"

"Neither am I!"

Orion couldn't believe it. He was most compatible with Novia?

Novia fumed. She wanted to cry but she didn't want to give Orion the satisfaction.

They were asleep within ten minutes.

Novia opened her eyes. She was on her left side with her back to Orion. He hadn't tried anything so she was glad. As she lay, the room light slowly brightened mimicking the sun coming up.

"Mmmm," a male voice quietly groaned.

Novia noticed what was right in front of her eyes all along. On the next bed, Ouranie was slowly sucking Pyx's dick. Novia then saw beyond that to notice Ceres and Thabit were awake and watching also.

A feminine moan from the other direction spurred Novia to sit up. Ceres and Thabit had not been watching Ouranie and Pyx but someone else instead.

"Ohhhh!" Sirrah softly moaned.

Androme was on top of Sirrah and there was no question what they were doing.

Orion stirred and rolled to his back. Novia looked down at his dick. It was soft, so at least he wasn't dreaming about her. She looked over at Pyx's hard dick. It was so wet and slick from Ouranie's mouth. Novia wished she didn't feel so horny. Thabit got out of bed and headed toward the bathroom. Novia subtly followed his bouncing dick. Why couldn't she be matched up with him or Castor? She'd jump on that right now.

Orion opened his eyes. Novia was sitting up. He glanced over her body. She was pretty nice. He sort of expected her to be strange looking or something because she was a farm girl, but she was very normal. He turned his head to see where most people were looking. Androme and Sirrah were fucking.

When Novia saw Orion turn his head, she shot out of bed. He looked at her. She could see him look at her in that guy kind of way. She decided there was nowhere to go, so she sat back down.

"Good morning," she said only out of politeness.

"Good morning," he gruffly said.

"Oh, yes!" Sirrah moaned.

Androme groaned.

The instructors' motions stopped and the cadets knew it was over.

Androme pulled out of Sirrah and sat up. He wasn't surprised to see an audience.

He said, "Hit the showers and then we'll go to breakfast in about an hour. There is soap, towels, hairbrushes, everything you need."

Novia didn't need a further excuse to get away from Orion. She headed straight to the showers. She showered with the other girls except for Ouranie who came in a short time later and playfully showered with Pyx. They touched all over each other's body. Novia was glad the conversations with the other girls got her mind off of her horniness and that Terraforce had inexplicably chosen Orion as her cadet partner.

At breakfast, more than one person was thankful for the provided aprons they wore, so the hot food would not burn them. Orion ate heartily. It was some of the best food he ever had.

"There's a little bit of a technique to getting into your flight suit," said Androme to the hunters. "Once you figure it out though it's easy. You have to do a little wiggle like this. It feels embarrassing at first, but you get over it. That's the way, Orion!"

Orion didn't feel embarrassed because he had experienced more embarrassment the last few weeks than he could remember. Most of it was at the hands of Novia. He was glad she wasn't here. She was a surprisingly good pilot but she wasn't good enough to be a top pilot. She was just a shooter.

Androme helped the cadets with their flight suit connections especially around the helmets. He explained the reasoning along the way.

"Just breathe normally," he advised.

Androme did a final check on all five cadet hunters. All indicator lights on the suits displayed optimal functioning.

"Follow me," Androme said. Orion heard him in his helmet speakers. "It will feel awkward at first until you get into low or zero-g and you will get used to walking in them here in the training center too."

Novia was excited to be putting on her flight suit. This was real! It finally felt like she was truly at Terraforce Academy.

"Something's wrong with this helmet. Try this one instead," said Sirrah to Lyra. "It's kind of important to have a properly functioning helmet."

Novia was glad it was only the shooters here. The less time she had to spend with Orion the better. The guy was stuck flying Storms. He wasn't good enough to be a shooter.

"Okay, everybody's ready," said Sirrah. "This way."

Orion was disappointed when they entered a large chamber. He looked up and the high ceiling was painted with distant stars just like the circular walls and the floor were.

Androme punched some codes on the panel near the inside of the door. The door closed and a red light began to flash.

Orion saw Perion rise up a couple of inches. He looked down at his own boots and saw that he was floating too.

"I see everyone's discovered this is a zero-g chamber," Androme said. Fans kicked in. "We'll begin once we are blown into the middle."

It took a few minutes. Orion practiced moving his arms and legs.

"Connect," said Androme.

Orion discovered the chamber was also a simulation room. Androme gave more commands to bring up the program he wanted. The visual interface reminded Orion very much of GameNet.

"Connect," Androme said again. Everyone was in the simulation.

Orion could still feel himself floating in the real world, but his visual senses said he was in the middle of space. Spaceships zipped by. A large planet was below and to the right. There were asteroids, moons around the planet, and a couple of comets. It was obviously fake, but it was still amazing.

"Orion," said Androme. "If the ship in the left quadrant is going at 5, the planet's gravitational value is 1.2, and assuming the ship must take as straight a course as reasonable where will it be in five seconds?"

Orion evaluated quickly. The ship would have to avoid an asteroid. He gave his answer.

"What if the ship was going at 14?" Androme said.

Orion swiftly recalculated and gave his answer.

"Good.," said Androme. "Perion."

The scenarios and scenes would change and the questions become more challenging but none of it was that difficult for Orion. He noted that Androme never needed to ask him to rethink his answer. While Orion understood that people should be able to figure these problems out, he also knew it was pointless since a Space Storm's computer sensors did that all for a pilot and locked on lasers which made shooters like Novia useless too.

Novia liked the feeling of floating. She never got to play in a zero-g center on Earth like city people did. It was a fascinating sensation.

"Connect," said Sirrah. "We're going to do some target practice."

Novia couldn't help but be a little disappointed. It would be a lot more fun if she was piloting a ship and shooting up things. This looked no better than playing on GameNet.

"It will take some extra practice in zero-g," said Sirrah.

Novia was exceptionally fast. Targets would show for the briefest of moments yet she would hit them

"Everyone did excellent," complimented Sirrah later. "Now you're going to do it in a gyrobubble."

The gyrobubble was essentially a seat in a bubble in the simulated space of the zero-g chamber. Novia could rapidly spin and turn in any direction to fire except oddly the initial direction she started in. There was a small red light on the bubble that visually reminded students of this limitation.

"Duck hunting time," Sirrah said.

While the targets did look like ducks, Novia never saw any fly in the manner these one flew. They flew much more like a space fighter such as the Terraforce Space Storm. She wondered how a Gruus fighter flew. Everyone had only seen still pictures of them on MediaNet.

Novia used the controls to spin around and fire away at the ducks. It was a mindless arcade game but that changed when the bubbles they sat in started to move.

"Damn!" groused Castor when he missed a couple of his first shots.

This was actually getting to be fun for Novia. As she hit several targets, it felt like her bubble moved faster than the other cadets especially compared to Castor and Thabit. Lyra's bubble was close to Novia's speed and Ouranie's speed was somewhere in the middle.

"Target missed" a soft voice said in Novia's helmet.

"I didn't fire," she muttered back.

Sirrah's voice came in. "If you don't fire, you can't hit it."

Novia let the comment irritate her. She was shooting everything yet Sirrah was correcting her?

"It was too far away," Novia decided to reply.

"Says who?"

"The duck was out of range."

"How do you know?"

"The computer said so."

Sirrah laughed. Novia didn't like that.

"What if your computer is broken?" Sirrah finally said.

"Then I'm dead."

"Computers aren't perfect. Observe. Everyone observe."

Novia and her classmates were paused and temporarily placed in audience mode. They could see Sirrah in a bubble.

"Begin," said Sirrah.

Sirrah's bubble began to move. As soon as the targets began to appear, Sirrah began lasering them down. Het bubble quickly began to move rapidly, but Sirrah impressively was spinning around and shooting. Nothing passed through her gauntlet of laser fire.

Novia noticed on Sirrah's computer display that the only targets left were outside her laser range distance. Sirrah still fired in that direction. It was a hit!

Novia mentally kicked herself. Of course! The targets were just out of range but they were headed toward the bubble so they ran straight into the laser fire and were destroyed. The realization caused a more serious question.

Novia asked, "Why can't the computer determine that the target is coming into range?"

"They can," Sirrah said, "but they are disabled for this exercise."

Novia couldn't understand why Terraforce liked to run unrealistic exercises.

No one liked having to go through decontamination again. The instructors admitted that they technically didn't need to be deconned, but they had to get used to it. Soon enough they would be practicing out in space and need to do it for real. Everyone deconned together in one room now.

They had two hours for lunch then they were taken to a gym.

"We're going to go for a little jog," Androme said.

All ten cadets plus the two instructors were on treadmills. In front was a screen that would immerse everyone into a scene so it looked like you were outside. The boys were given disposable jock straps and the girls were given disposable bras.

"Let's go," said Androme.

Everyone was in decent shape and the run was slow but when the course started to go uphill, which the treadmills made realistic by lifting the front end, cadets began to tire and weary.

"Keep pushing it," Androme encouraged.

"You can do it, Thabit," Sirrah said when he began to slow.

"Almost to the top," Androme said.

Orion wiped the sweat off his forehead. He couldn't wait until this was over. Novia's leg muscles hurt. She wanted to stop, but she knew she couldn't. She had to go on.

There was a great choir of relief when the running surface evened out.

"Great job," said Androme. "Make sure you drink."

Everyone drank. There was a straw-like tube of liquid nutrients attached to each treadmill to help keep runners hydrated.

"Alright," said Androme. "Let's get serious and pick up the pace."

The previous choir of relief was now a collective groan.

Cassio had to stop with a hamstring pull. Novia was tempted to fake it and stop too but she forged on. Her legs burned. Orion gasped for air. This was ridiculous. He understood the value of being in good shape but ultimately you were sitting on your butt in a Storm most of the day.

"Okay, you can slow it down," said Androme. "Just a little longer."

They started to go downhill but it was steep. A couple of cadets dropped down to a walk. When the instructors didn't exhort them to run, other students walked until eventually everyone except the instructors walked.

After the run, it was relief to do upper body work with weight machines.

When the workout was done, everyone went into an individual Cleanse and Restore bath. The instructors were in tubs across the room to give the students privacy.