Far Horizon (Juggernaut #4)

Nineteen

Aiden whispered something in the cadet's ear. His eyes widened.

"So the rumours were true? You're less of a transfer, more of a tourist."

Ellie whipped around in her chair, but New Ellie was the one who answered. "I am not a tourist!" she snapped.

The room fell silent. Everyone looked at Ellie. Ellie slowly turned back into her seat and glowed. She stared at the screen.

Aiden whispered, "Ennis, I said be subtle. She's not proud of it."

"You never told me she was so angry," said Ennis.

"I'm not angry," hissed Ellie. "I'm not a tourist, that's all. I'm not here to play."

"Which academy did you go to?"

"None of your business!"

Ennis drew breath for another question but he was interrupted by the arrival of Commander Archer.

"Settle down, cadets. We have a lot of work to do."

Archer tapped his datapad and the screen faded to black, then sprang to life with a wireframe image of the Paris.

"We're going to begin today with an overview of the Paris, her layout, and her capabilities. Next we will discuss your training program. Most of you have transferred from the Texas to continue your training here. We have one new cadet joining us, Cadet Young, from the Icarus. I understand most of your theoretical work is complete so we will be moving on to simulators shortly, and then to real ships." Archer paused and looked at the faces before him. "Then we will really see what you're made of."

One of the Tams raised a hand.

"Sir? Is it true that we are allowed to fly with the senior class in their final exam?"

"Yes that's true. The senior class is shorter but more intense. They will be graduating before you. As an incentive, one cadet from this class will be permitted to join the senior graduating class for their manoeuvre demonstrations. This is not guaranteed. You don't get simply because you are the top of this class, you have to make me believe you are good enough."

Ellie perked up at that announcement. That was what she needed. Now she had a way to show them she was the best.

"Do you think you're good enough, Celeste Tam?" said Archer.

"Yes sir," said Celeste with a confidence so sure, Ellie found herself believing it.

"We'll see, Cadet," said Archer. "Now, to business."

The rest of their afternoon concentrated on the academic and practical details of life aboard a carrier. Ellie was grateful this was mandatory for all transferring students. The Paris might be operationally identical to the Texas and Icarus, but she was new to all three of these ships. The rest of the class paid half-hearted attention to the briefing because they had learned it all before and knew what life was like aboard these ships. Ellie didn't, but had to pretend she did, so she listened carefully, took notes, and wrote down questions to follow up later.

There was a thirty minute presentation about the combat abilities of the ship too. Ellie did her best to take it all in, but at the same time wondered just what the value was in knowing details like the thrust-to-weight ratio, maximum acceleration, number of guns and life support capabilities of the ship were. She was here to fly fighters. Her role would take her far from the internal issues of the carrier.

More presentations followed: evacuation drills, fire drills, radiation drills. What to do if a compartment vented. Where to go if the ship came under attack. Regulations about internal and external comms, and more endless minutia she couldn't care less about. This was a test of endurance, a barrier between her and her cockpit, but she had no choice except to sit and listen along with the rest of the class.

But she endured, and finally the presentations were over. Celeste and Aurora were first out the door. The rest of the class rose more slowly, stretching cramped legs and gathering notes.

Ennis tapped her on the shoulder.

Ellie turned around. New Ellie was ready to be strong and stand up for herself, but old Ellie was the one who had just sat through three hours of presentations and lectures, and she couldn't muster the spark she had shown earlier.

"Hey, I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to offend you," said Ennis. "I'm not here to make enemies."

"It's okay, but I'm not a tourist. It doesn't matter where I'm from."

"Just tell me one thing."

"What?"

"Can you really fly? This place needs us to be a team, to work together. If there's a weak link in this room it lets us all down. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter what you say. It doesn't matter where you're from. It doesn't matter who you know. It matters what you do. Get me?"

"Yes, I can fly," said Ellie.

"Do you think you're good enough to fly with the senior class?" said Aiden.

"Wait and see."

"That's not the confidence Archer was talking about," noted Dominique.

"Yeah, Celeste was pretty sure she would be there," said Ennis.

"I'm going to be there," said Ellie. New Ellie added, "And no one on this ship is going to stop me. That's a promise!"

Life wasn't simple any more, but she was one day closer to showing them all what she could really do.