Beyond the Milky Way

2.2: The Assessment

"Your results are in." Keith stated as he stepped into the room. A week had slipped by since the group's briefing on the mission. They would travel to Buno and take part in the annual space race, representing Earth for the first time since its origin. The group found out they would also see an Esperian, the same ruler responsible for choosing them.

The members had various emotions as they took in the alien who walked in alongside their manager; he wasn't what they expected. The light blue alien towered over Keith, standing roughly seven feet tall. The gown concealed his frame; a sweeping white robe decorated in bright gems that appeared to change colors every so often. He was humanoid in the face, except for the tiny onyx eyes that glanced over everybody.

"This is the Royal Magistrate of Esperia, Emuh. He is the one who brought us together." Keith added. No one stirred as the Esperian bowed towards the group of humans, a slight grin playing across his narrow lips.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you." Emuh startled the group. Lindsay darted a stare at Bradley.

"He... speaks English..." she half-whispered. The man was in too great of awe to produce nothing but a slight nod.

"I speak all your Earth languages, yes." the Esperian continued, giving Lindsay a generous smile. She reddened with her mouth agape.

"If everyone is ready for their results..." Keith threw a glare towards Lindsay before going to the piece of paper in his hand. She rolled her eyes, giving up focus on the alien.

"Bet I'm a mechanic..." Bradley whispered to her. He looked pleased as she relaxed at his remarks; he longed for her to grow used to him and was content she stopped shying away from him.

"I dunno. Someone's gotta fly the spaceship. That's you..." she encouraged and the idea caused him to redden. It didn't occur to him until that instant he would qualify to be the pilot of the IR; he looked forward to working on a part of extraterrestrial machinery. According to what he heard the two former Marines talk about, he felt that Lindsay would be the stronger candidate of the two as pilot.

Lindsay didn't see what field she was best in. The automotive and mechanical parts of the assessment occurred foreign to her and she halfway understood the communications section! Lindsay was great at fixing conflict; that was the customer service experience in her. The woman dealt with people over the phone, being experienced in doing so. How would that relate to this case, she asked. For all she knew, Lindsay didn't qualify for anything and would return to Phoenix. The idea would've been for the best, she guessed. How would she handle living apart from her husband for a whole year? She would not only be away from Earth but in another galaxy!

The old man would throw a party if she didn't qualify for anything, she complained to herself; she had no clue why he was mean to her. Perhaps he was misogynistic: she didn't go through that in the Marine Corps! Male Marines referred to her and any other woman in the Corps as a "walking mattress" but when it came time for work, no one showed disregard to her.

Lindsay's thoughts broke off as she gazed at Emuh examining her. It made her question if the alien had mind-reading abilities and stopped thinking. When she peered over at Bradley to whisper her suspicions, she found that he was deep in thought. Lindsay would talk to him later about it, she figured.

"The IR will need four mechanics. David and Tim: you two are the body mechanics. Anything about the exterior of the IR falls under your supervision. Steve, you have one of the toughest parts of the job; you're the engine mechanic. You will make sure it operates at maximum capacity. Yoji is the electrical mechanic. Any and everything electrical will fall under your care." Keith explained. The four stared at each other and beamed.

"Malik. Although you did not qualify for anything mechanical, you and Yoji will work together. You will be the Earth team's communications operator. Your job will be to transmit any problems or conditions to the pilot, and that includes engine issues," he continued. It didn't go unnoticed that there was one obvious job left but two unassigned people. "Bradley will be the pilot of the IR. I don't suppose there should be any explanation to that." the man nearly smiled at the redhead. Bradley stared at Lindsay in awe; she was right. The racecar driver was virtually the leader of the Earth team.

Lindsay couldn't make sense of it. The news made her heart drop although several moments ago, she was fine going back to her home. A week went by, but she was getting to understand the rest of team better, particularly Bradley, who appeared to go out of his way to get her more relaxed. A larger part of her looked forward to the experiences in another galaxy but now, she was the odd man out.

Keith let out a rough sigh and scowled at her, something that killed her gloomy thoughts. Lindsay's heart sped; she wasn't leaving the team! But... what else was there to work?

"Lindsay, I must congratulate you on your results. They were... incredible. You will be the pilot's right-hand man... or woman, so to speak."

"I... I don't get it. I'm a... copilot...?" she perked up. The IR required two pilots, she asked herself.

"No. You will be the IR's artillery specialist."

"Artillery... specialist...?" Lindsay thought out loud; she knew full well what it meant. The former Marine devoted eight years in the Marine Corps doing just that. Her bewilderment was that the IR would need ammo!

"Yes. Your job is to simply disable the other IRs if need be... not try to kill the other racers, understood?" Keith ordered with another glare.

"Yes, sir!" Lindsay's dislike for the man died out at this piece of news. Bradley gave her a flattering rub on the shoulder as she continued to beam.

"Congratulations to you all. Training will begin promptly at six tomorrow morning. Everyone will meet in sector twelve. If you haven't already, familiarize yourselves with the building; it will be your home for the next three weeks." Keith wrapped up and walked out the room. The other men gave Lindsay quick hugs in place of congratulations; they all knew the implied assessment results stressed her. The Royal Magistrate coming up to the group took everyone's attention. As his thin lips curved into a smile, Lindsay repeated the gesture. She felt more at ease with him but couldn't figure out why.

"I sense that you two will be a considerable adversary for my son. Good luck to you." Emuh said and followed Keith out of the room. Bradley and Lindsay shot each other a look.

"We're gonna be... racing against his son...??" Lindsay's eyes widened.

"He didn't seem to be too worried about it. Trust me, Lizzie; the kid gloves come off when you're racing. He'll find out soon enough..." Bradley winked at her.