Making of a Starship Captain Ch. 05

[Note: This Science Fiction story is an intense character study with occasional sex scenes.]

The Academy

It was a hot, sunny day in late July when Michael Tiberius Taylor arrived at the Academy in Pensacola, Florida. Pensacola had been the original base of operations for the American Survey Service before it had expanded operations at Kiawah Island in South Carolina and merged with the Australian Survey Service based at Auburn Field, in Perth, Australia. The United States territorial government had turned over an abandoned naval air base for the Survey Service to use in Pensacola. Originally the base was to have been located on a stretch of empty coastline twenty miles south of San Francisco, but environmentalists protested that the life style of a rare breed of omnisexual dung beetle would be disrupted if the base was built there, and so the Survey Service chose Pensacola, finding it a more accommodating locale.

Taylor checked in and was assigned a dormitory room. He was also assigned his cadet uniform, which was as white as an egg. This contrasted with the black, blue, and silver uniforms of Survey Service officers. He would spend three years earning his colors, as would the other cadets. At least, the ones who made it.

But still, Taylor felt some satisfaction as he looked at himself in his new uniform in the mirror. He had come this far. He had beaten all the odds. He would make it.

The Survey Service was notorious for getting large numbers of cadets to quit the Academy of their own accord. Technically, any cadet could be dropped from the Academy for any reason, but the Survey Service much preferred for cadets to quit on their own. The precise term was known as "RFD", or "Request for Dismissal". Approximately 70% of cadets RFD'd in the first year. Taylor resolved not to be one of those.

There was a get-to-know-you session for the new cadets in the mess hall. Taylor met some of his fellow cadets there. They all had very diverse backgrounds.

There was Joanna Martin, an Aussie, the niece of the largest film producer in the world, Elias Martin. She had a charming accent, and a lot of spirit. "It's good to have at least a few of us hear to teach yew yanks how to do things propar," she said.

"You're going to teach us?" said another cadet named John Cambell, a big blonde man who looked like a supermodel.

"Of coarse! Remembar that it was Australia which started the Survey Service in the furst place," said Joanna.

"But the American Survey Service was much bigger," said Cambell

"Size doesn't mattar mistar, if you get there furst," said Joanna, grinning.

The other cadets were also interesting. Taylor met a tall dark haired man named Bill Kenilworth. Both of Bill's parents were Survey Service officers, so naturally they expected him to be as well. But Bill just wanted to become a painter.

"A painter? Then what are you doing here?" Taylor asked.

"Just waiting to flunk out," said Bill cheerfully.

It never occurred to Taylor that someone would come to the Academy with the ambition to fail.

Another cadet was Ernie Maslarov, a self declared "genius", who was also in the program for unusual reasons. He had no particular interest in becoming a Survey Service officer; he just wanted to write a book about the experience.

Taylor got something to eat. Joanna Martin, the Aussie girl, sat down next to him. She had brown hair and a nice smile. "Have you met the othars yet?"

"No," said Taylor.

"Let me point out some of the moar... colorful ones to yew," said Joanna. "Over there is Mohammida Najjar. She's a follower of Laquinta, the God 'o Blood."

Taylor looked confused. "A follower of the God of Blood is joining the Survey Service?"

"I know, boggles the mind, don't it?" she grinned at him as she took a bite out of a pear. "Mohammida says she's a follower of reform Laqunitaism."

"Reform Laquintaism? I've never heard of that."

"Neither had I," said Joanna. "You know all that stuff in the Book 'o Blood 'bout beating your wimmen, and making them cover up in black sheets and stay at home cooking oll day and oll that?"

"Yes," said Taylor.

"Well, Mohammida says the Book O Blood had a few tiny transcription errors in it, and doesn't really mean that. She thinks the Book O Blood wants wimmen to be equal to men."

Taylor shuddered. "If she said those things on Ramada-"

"She's be skinned alive. Which is why she's hear."

Taylor looked at the unassuming brown skinned woman. A female follower of Laquinta, being out on her own like this? It was totally unheard of.

Joanna, her mouth full of food, kept talking. "And over there are the Ming's. One's Ming Wa Ching, and the othar's Ming Wa Chang. Can you tell them apart?"

Taylor looked over at the next table. There were two tall Chinese men sitting there, talking avidly to each other rapidfire in Chinese. "No."

"Don't feel bad, you aren't a racist. They're identical twins."

"Twins, not just twins, but identical twins, both let into the Academy?" Mike tried to wrap his head around the concept.

"Yeah. Well, makes a bit of sense, don't it? If one's qualified, the other's got to be too, right?" Joanna continued. "And over there is Natasha the spy."

Taylor saw a dark haired woman avidly talking to several other cadets. "A spy?"

"Natasha is from Russia. The word is she's a spy for the Russian Federation. The Russians have their own space program, remembar? The word is she's the eyes and ears of the Kremlin."

Taylor looked over at the dark haired beauty. True, it was unusual to hear of Russians applying for the Survey Service... but that didn't necessarily mean she was a spy.

"We have some tyme now. I was thinking of going to see the Ganymede. Would you lyke to check it out?" Joanna asked.

"Sure," said Taylor. "Let me just bus my tray." He took his tray to the return area. As he dropped it off, he almost bumped into-

"Allyson," said Taylor, feeling his pulse race.

"Michael," she said, putting a hand on his. "So nice to see you. You're looking... fit... in that white uniform."

"So are you," said Taylor. Truthfully, Allyson Harshbarger filled out her uniform quite well.

"So, we made it. We're here," said Allyson cheerfully.

"Yeah," said Taylor quietly.

"Listen. Mike." She squeezed his hand. "I realize we have some history together. But the past is the past. If I can put it aside, can't you?"

"This was the woman who put a holovid of you having sex on the school message board. This is the woman who most probably leaked your diary to everyone. At every chance she's gotten, she's tried to destroy you," said Anger. Behind him, Want Revenge nodded grimly.

"But we're at the Academy now. Things are different," said Restraint.

"He's right," said Ambition. "If we want to do well at the Academy, we can't hold on to grudges."

"Can't we just murder her when no one is looking, and dump the body somewhere?" Want Revenge asked.

"No," said Ambition firmly.

"How about a little flesh wound, maybe by accident, out at the shooting range? Who could object to that?" Want Revenge asked.

"No," said Ambition firmly. "I'm telling you, if we go after Allyson, we'll just be destroying ourselves. We don't have to be her friend. We just have to avoid hostilities."

"Sure, Allyson," said Mike calmly, pulling his hand away. He found himself breathing heavily as he returned to Joanna.

"Ready?" Joanna asked with a smile. "Let's goah!"

********

On the landing field there was a Survey Service destroyer, a cruiser, a battle cruiser, and a merchant ship. But the only one they had access to didn't fly; it was the very first Survey Service ship, the first ship to use the Varonkov FTL drive. The Ganymede had jumped for Alpha Centauri and, miraculously, had come back in one piece.

"Amazing," said Joanna, as they toured the antiquated bridge. "To think they flew in this thing. Look at all the push buttons. I've read that their computers were as big as my hand!"

"Did you see the cracks on the outside of the ship?" Taylor asked. "I heard that they developed on reentry. It's amazing they got back at all."

"It was inevitable," said a new voice.

Taylor turned to see a dark haired woman in a cadet's uniform. "Inevitable?" he said.

"The romanticized urge to travel inside of metallic canisters has long captured the human imagination."

"What?" said Taylor.

"Mike, meet Sophie Astor. Sophie, this is Mike Taylor. Sophie is a Passive Observer," said Joanna, giving Taylor a knowing look.

"Passive Observer?"

"You are very skilled at repeating words, Cadet Taylor," said Sophie, walking forward until she was face to face with Taylor. Sophie could have been beautiful, if she ever smiled. She had long dark hair. Her breasts were small but stuck out somehow on her small frame. But she had a very serious look on her face which drained all the beauty from her.

"What is a Passive Observer?" Mike asked.

Joanna cleared her throat. "A Passive Observer is-"

"You could answer the question, Joanna, or a person who is an actual Passive Observer could," said Sophie Astor. "Who do you think would give Cadet Taylor a more comprehensive answer?"

"By all means," said Joanna, sucking in her lips.

Sophie looked Mike squarely in the eye, and for some reason he found himself getting excited. "A Passive Observer is someone who observes every aspect of reality. Sight. Touch. Taste. Smell. Hearing. A Passive Observer analyzes all stimuli objectively. Dispassionately."

She looked at Taylor for a long moment, as if searching him with her eyes, as if expecting a response, as if she were testing him.

"It... it sounds like fun," said Taylor, not sure what else to say.

Sophie raised an eyebrow, snorted, and turned on her heel and walked off the bridge.

"What an odd person," said Taylor.

"She lykes yew," Joanna said.

"How can you possibly conclude that?" Taylor asked.

"When she stood five inches from yew, and looked at yew really close... I could tell."

They left the Ganymede and wandered over to the Astor memorial, where they found Sophie Astor and another cadet, a young woman Taylor hadn't met yet.

They stood beneath a holographic statue of Roland Astor, one of the greatest Captains in Survey Service history. Mike read the description on the holographic plaque.

"Captain Roland Astor, hero of the Second and Third Ramadhan wars. In the battle of the Trinary Stars, fourteen Survey Service Ships fought off twenty three Ramadhan warships. There were intense causalities on both sides. After Admiral Bennett was killed, Captain Astor took command of the fleet and destroyed the bulk of the Ramadhan fleet. At one point, Captain Astor's ship was boarded, and he and his crew engaged in intense hand to hand combat with Ramadhan Jihadis. Captain Astor then went on to Ramada, and rescued our embassy staff who were being held hostage, and negotiated the Peace Treaty of Nantes, which ended the Third Ramadhan War. Two years after the war ended, he was assassinated while on a goodwill tour of Ramada by a suicide bomber whose last words were "There is no God but Laquinta".

"What a way to die," said Joanna. "He won the war, and then died in the peace."

"He was a colonialist," said Allyson Harshbarger, who had appeared while Taylor was reading the plaque. "Astor was no hero. He paved the way for generations of mistrust with the peace loving people of Ramada."

"Peace loving? That will be news to them, I'm shore," said Joanna Martin.

Allyson smirked and walked off.

Taylor turned to Sophie. "Sophie, you said your last name is Astor, isn't it?"

"Your memory is impeccable, Cadet Taylor. Each time we interact, you impress me more and more," said Sophie.

"Are you related to Captain Roland Astor?" Taylor asked.

Sophie turned and looked at the holographic statue, and then back to him. "Captain Astor was my father," she said quietly.

Taylor's jaw dropped. Then his eyes narrowed. "Wait a minute. He died nearly forty years ago. That would make-"

"My statement a lie, correct," said Sophie.

"Why?" Taylor asked.

"I wished to see what you would believe," she said. She turned on her heel and walked away.

"I told yew she lyked you," said Joanna, grinning.

"Actually, he didn't die forty years ago," said another cadet. "More like thirty four."

"Thirty four," said Taylor, turning to face this new speaker. She was a slender woman, Chinese, perhaps. No not quite Chinese. Part Chinese and part White maybe. She had the best features of both races--long, silky black hair, big, expressive eyes, a narrow nose, beautiful red lips, high cheekbones, and modest breasts that nevertheless ended up looking large and pointed on her small frame. "And how do you know that?" he asked.

"I try to know things," She said. "For example, I know your name is Michael Taylor."

"How do you know that?" Taylor asked.

"I heard some of the others talking about you. You're the Moon Hero, aren't you?"

"The Moon Hero? From the news, a few months ago?" said Joanna. Her face looked puzzled, then cleared. "Is that yew, Mike?"

"I, uh...."

"It is you," said Joanna. "Cherry, yew know everything, don't yew?"

"Cherry?" said Mike, confused.

"Cherry Oteri," said the half Chinese woman, smiling as she extended her hand. Mike shook it.

"Mike is very handsome," said Cherry's Attraction.

"Mike thinks you're very pretty too," said Taylor's Attraction. They were both conversing on the mutual Attraction plane.

"Is Mike single?" Cherry's Attraction asked.

"Yes, but...."

"But what?" Cherry's Attraction asked.

"He's had a difficult time with women. Don't expect a lot of bold action from him in the romance department."

"A shy guy?"

"Do you like shy guys?" Taylor's Attraction asked.

"Maybe...."

Suddenly, another crossbrain connection blossomed, this time on a different plane.

"Mike's worked really hard to get into the Academy," said Mike's Ambition. "His parents were against it, and he really struggled in school."

"Really? Same here!" said Cherry's Ambition. "My parents are both civil servants for the World Government. They thought I was crazy for applying for the Academy. I fought them for years. At school, I was sort of the outcast. Everyone always called me 'Math Head' And 'Survey Service Slut'. "

"In Mike's school they called him 'Captain Taylor' and 'Space Cadet'," said Mike's Ambition.

"It sounds like we went through a lot of the same thing," said Cherry's Ambition. She put a finger in her mouth. "And he's really cute. At least, that's what my Lust is telling me."

"Have we met, somewhere before?" Cherry asked, as Taylor released her dainty hand.

"Met? I... I don't think so. Why?"

"You just feel... I don't know... a little... familiar to me," said Cherry. "Or maybe it's just... that we have things in common."

Taylor had no idea what she was saying, but her smile was infectious. Taylor found himself smiling back and hoping it was true. "Maybe."

"Well, it was nice meeting you... Captain Taylor," she said. And then she turned and waggled her hips as she walked away.

Joanna turned to Taylor. "Boy, Mike, you're really attracting oll the flies today, aren't yew? What kind of sugar have yew got in yer pocket thare?"

********

Taylor was popular. As word spread that he was the Moon hero, he saw cadets looking at him with new respect. He started to make friends: Joanna, Cherry Oteri, a beautiful redhead named Andrea Farber, and even the alleged Russian spy, Natasha Romanov.

And then Allyson Harshbarger spread the poison around.

Taylor saw her at lunch one day, sitting with Cherry Oteri, Joanna, and a few other cadets. Allyson had an evil smile on her face. She saw Allyson smirking and giggling with the other girls, and he felt their eyes on him. What was she saying to them?

********

"You went to High School with the Moon hero, didn't you?" Andrea Farber, the redheaded beauty, asked her.

Allyson smiled and nodded.

"Do tell!" said Andrea. "He's cute! Is he single?"

"He is," said Allyson. "But that's part of the problem."

"Don't do this!" Doing What's Right implored.

Allyson's Doing What's Right was always a thin, reedy voice in her head.

"He's competition. We have to get rid of the competition," said Ego. "Seventy Percent of students are dropped from the program. The less competition we have, the better."

"But we've already been so mean to him," said Doing What's Right. "And there are so many others we are also in competition with. Why Mike?"

"Because we can," said Ego. "He's too much of a threat. He's too competent, too capable. When you measure the both of us together, side by side, I look bad. He has to go."

"No-"

"Shut up."

"Mike has a problem?" Andrea asked quizzically.

Allyson looked around at the other faces. They were all hanging on her every word. She could say whatever she wanted. At that moment, she felt like she had enormous power over reality.

"Mike... is a sweet boy, but kind of confused," said Allyson. "He doesn't have much confidence with girls. He was so desperate for a girlfriend that he went up to a hundred girls, one after another, and told each one that they were beautiful until he found someone who would go out with him."

"Oh," said Andrea. They all turned to look at Mike while Allyson talked. But their gaze, which had been adoring, was now something else. Something filled with pity.

"Mike dated anyone he could find. For a while he was so desperate that he dated a lesbian who wasn't even attracted to him," said Allyson.

"Really?" said Joanna Martin, looking startled. "You're joking, right?"

"No," said Allyson, shaking her head. "And then... and then...." She clearly had trouble speaking. "I really shouldn't say this."

"Then don't," said Cherry Oteri, glaring at her.

"I suppose I shouldn't," said Allyson, desperate for someone to prompt her to continue. She wanted to appear as reluctant as possible to reveal the biggest bombshell of all.

"What is it?" another cadet named Paula Kenobi asked.

"Well, since you forced it out of me.... When Mike was finally... intimate with a woman, he was so obsessed with the experience that he... recorded it. And then he posted it online."

"No," said Joanna. "He couldn't. He wouldn't."

"He did," said Allyson. Looking at all the shocked female faces around her, she had to resist a smile. She knew that within minutes every cadet in the Academy would know. She relished her power. "But... please don't think any less of him for it! He's a little confused when it comes to girls, but otherwise, he's a fine person! He's really gentle and sweet and kind-"

"Sounds like a pervert to me," said Paula Kenobi. Other girls were nodding in agreement.

Cherry Oteri stared at Allyson, deep in contemplation.

There was a virtual room, deep inside of Cherry's head. It featured a giant eye, focused on an illuminated platform. In the platform was a holographic image of Michael Taylor. Around the platform were artists, busy painting way on easels.

"He sounds like a pervert," said Perception 1.

"Really?" said Perception 2.

"Just look," said Perception 1. She walked under the giant eye to some of the artists, busy drawing on the easels. One painted an image of Mike looking like a madman. Another painted one of him nude, with a giant erection, looking outraged.

"And what about this bitch?" Perception 2 asked. Suddenly the holographic image on the platform switched to Allyson Harshbarger's smug face. The artists started to scribble furiously. The words "Liar", "Cheat" and "Backstabber" appeared on artists' easels in big block letters.