Unity

Chapter 15

I made my way around the shuttle looking at where everyone was assigned. Thad and Mitch were both assigned to battleships, Mitch as a navigator and Thad as an engineer. They were both pretty excited with their assigned duties. I noticed Andrew off by himself in a corner. "Is everything alright?" I asked as I approached.

"I guess I'm still trying to process everything," he said quietly.

"Rough assignment?" I asked.

"Not necessarily rough, just unexpected," he admitted. He handed me his tablet. I could see why he was surprised.

"Commander?" I asked.

"I guess our group was graced with two commanders in the making. I'm still not sure this isn't someone's idea of a prank."

"You're going to do great," I said, patting him on the back. I smiled mischievously, before calling out, "Hey Tina, looks like Andrew is a commander as well." Andrew glared at me as Tina rallied everyone to give him the same treatment, I received just a few minutes before. I strategically exited that part of the cabin as everyone gathered around Andrew to congratulate him. The rest of our squadron's assignments varied widely. There were some marines, technicians, maintenance, and even one assigned to the galley.

Unfortunately, the trip back to the academy was over all too quickly. The feelings were bittersweet as we exited the shuttle. Everyone stood around, waiting for someone to make the first move. "One last huddle," I said after a moment, "then its on to our duty assignments. It's not like we won't ever see each other, and we can always keep in touch electronically." Everyone gathered in and farewells were said. Andrew and I peeled ourselves away from the group to pull up the new sleeping quarters and schedule.

"Looks like we have a meeting soon," Andrew stated. "Our new quarters are on the other side of the station. Care for a run?"

"You're on!" I said as I took off. We made good time going to our new quarters and only had a few near misses with other cadets making their way to their various destinations. We arrived sweaty and out of breath, just as several people were leaving our assigned quarters. One of them stopped us and asked, "What's the emergency?"

"No emergency," Andrew replied, "just a friendly race." We started to head in and were stopped by the same person.

"You are not allowed in there," the stranger growled. "It is for commanders only." It was then that I recognized him. He was one of the angry squadron leaders we beat during the simulator fight around Jupiter, this was just my luck.

Andrew pulled out his tablet and tried to show it to him and said diplomatically, "Here is our assignment. Now kindly step aside so we may enter."

The guy didn't even bother to look at the tablet. He just scowled at us and said, "Assignments were two days ago. I'm not going to let some pretenders enter the commander's quarters." I looked at the other commanders for assistance, but they just stood there fidgeting nervously.

Finally, one of them spoke up. "Just let them in, man. We're going to be late." When it looked like nothing was going to happen, he spoke up again. "Come on guys, let's get going. We'll let Ed be the one in trouble for being late." With that they started to walk off.

"My name is Edgar!" Edgar shouted back.

They had only gone about fifteen feet when they suddenly stopped and stood at attention. Andrew and I quickly followed suit with Edgar a fraction of a second behind us. Admiral Jones had just walked around the corner and was walking towards them. If the look on his face was any indication of his mood, he was not happy. He walked in between the two groups and barked, "What is going on here!"  He looked at Andrew and me and asked, somewhat calmer, "Why are you not in uniform yet?"

"There was some confusion with Commander Ed here about regarding our assignment," I replied. Edgar glared at me for using the nickname.

"Well let me clear this up for everybody," he said menacingly. "You have five minutes to be dressed appropriately and in the assigned classroom and if a single person is missing the whole group will have waste disposal duty for a week."

Andrew and I saluted the admiral and pushed past Edgar, found our bunks, grabbed some new uniforms, and had a quick shower. We were running to the classroom with a minute left to go. Parts of our uniforms were wet and stuck to our skin, as we didn't have time to properly dry ourselves. The new uniforms were a deep navy blue, and we saw several different colors as we were running. I hadn't taken the time to memorize the color assignments given to each department. As we neared the classroom, I saw the commander who had tried to diffuse the situation standing outside the door looking nervous. We ran into the classroom without saying a word and sat in our seats with only seconds to spare.

Admiral Jones stepped into the room and looked around and started talking as if the earlier events hadn't even happened. "Now that Commanders Turner and Ryan have graced us with their presence, we can begin your training in earnest. Everyone in this room makes up the core leadership of the fleet. It is imperative that we know and trust each other. To begin, please stand and introduce yourselves."

Andrew took the initiative and stood up first, "I'm Andrew, and I'm from Canada."

I was next to Andrew, so I stood next and introduced myself in a similar fashion. "Zack from America." The next commander was the one that waited for us outside the door. His name was Daniel and he said he was from the European Union. Edgar was next. He proudly stated he was from France. I thought it was interesting he would claim a country in the EU, even though they banded together during the Great War to form a single country. Not to mention the fact that what was France is now an irradiated wasteland.

The rest of the commanders continued introducing themselves. There was Miyako from Japan, Lan from China, Tamal from India, Sofya from Russia, and Mariana from South America. Admiral Jones watched us stone faced for a minute after Mariana had introduced herself before he spoke.

"You are all greatly mistaken. Had you given those same introductions fifty years ago, it would have been true. The world is no longer what it was. The Great War has changed humanity forever." He brought up a picture of the earth on the display. "This is your home." He paused for a moment to let it sink in. "This, not Japan or France, or the EU... but Earth. You are all citizens of the Alliance. For the first time in recorded history, mankind is united under the same banner. As exciting as this is, the cost was greater than many of you will truly understand."

"Many on Earth still struggle with centuries old traditions of hate against others based on their 'nationality'. It is our duty to show the rest of the world that reconciliation is not only possible but is the only way forward. You all are here as equals. You may come from different parts of the planet, but that doesn't change who we are. You have been entrusted with commanding elements within the fleet, do not take this responsibility lightly. The future of humanity is now your priority, not personal gain, glory, or pride."

"The next six months will be critical in teaching you to work cohesively. You will learn each other's strengths and weaknesses, and you will learn to trust and rely on each other. There will come a time when your lives depend on that trust. Anyone who weakens this team or refuses to work with any other member will be reassigned planet side in one of the worst places you can imagine. As I will be your CO, it falls to me to be your mentor through this next phase of training. Do nothing that would embarrass or disappoint me."

He began outlining how training would be structured over the next several months. I could feel his passion as he spoke and it was infectious. My few interactions with the Admiral made me think him callous and cruel, but it dawned on me that I might have underestimated him. I was starting to understand the reason behind his words and actions. His claims about difficult times ahead had fallen on ears belonging to an invincible youth. It occurred to me that he was preparing us for difficult trials we would eventually face. We were going to spend the next six months creating a bond that would be strong enough to hold through good times and bad. Admiral Jones' passion and dedication sparked something in me that I hadn't realized was there before. I stared at the beautiful orb that represented my home. I knew then and there that I would lay down my life if it meant protecting my home.