Far Horizon (Juggernaut #4)

Twenty Three

The two simulator rooms faced each other at the far end of a corridor on deck seven. The doors on the left were sealed shut with a sign declaring that the systems within were undergoing maintenance. The doors to each room were double the normal width of doors on the ship as simulator units were largely pre-assembled and only finished on site.

Ellie opened the door and discovered, despite her best efforts, that she was the last person to arrive. Dominique waved at her. Aiden smiled his serious smile. The twins stood to one side, arms folded, faces impassive. The other cadets stood in groups, sharing exited tales of their first flights and future dreams.

Commander Archer turned around as the doors opened to let Ellie in.

'Good afternoon, cadet,' she said.

'But I'm not late,' said Ellie.

'You're the last one here. Class starts when everyone is ready. And now we can start.'

Ellie flushed red and headed for the back of the group where no one would see her. Rebecca was there. She bent over and whispered to Ellie, 'Don't worry about it. Everyone's been looking forward to this. It's the next best thing to flying for real.'

Ellie nodded without turning her head. There was a bright side. It wouldn't do to forget about that. She was finally here. Now she could show them what she could really do.

'By the end of today,' Taylor was speaking, 'You will be familiar with the basic layout and operation of the ST-12 training spacecraft, colloquially called the Starling. You will come to think of these cockpits as a second home. Here you will learn to fly as a team, working together to complete objectives. You will be operating in flights of two or four, depending on the objective. You will never operate solo. Do you understand?'

'Yes sir!' the class chorused.

'And why is this so, cadet?' Archer said. He pointed at one of the boys directly in front of him. Evidently he didn't know the answer because Taylor pointed at someone else.

'You,' he said.

'Because we fly as part of a squadron, and a squadron is always stronger than a single pilot.' That was Aurora, thought Ellie. Or Celeste. They even sounded alike, a snippy arrogance that implied you were wasting their time.

'Correct, textbook answer cadet. The team is always stronger than the individual. It's why we operate as a combined force, as a unit. I would always take ten average pilots working together over a hundred aces working alone. Teamwork gives you the edge. I know that you are all at least competent or you wouldn't be here. By the time I am done with you you're going to be the best in the fleet.'

The door opened again to admit a junior officer. He saluted Commander Archer and nodded his greeting at the rest of the room. He handed Taylor a clipboard and datapad, then walked to a central semi-circular console.

'This is Lieutenant Tariq Awan. He will be your squadron's operating tech in charge of mission simulations. He also has your pod assignments. Over to you, lieutenant.'

'Thank you sir,' he said. 'I just need a moment to finish set up. Pod assignments are on the wall chart already.'

'There you go people, find your pod, get seated, and the Tariq will begin the first exercise shortly. I will see you soon.'

With that, Archer left the room, and without the Commander to demand her attention, Ellie looked around her for the first time.

The simulator room was octagonal. The door she had come in by was on one straight edge. Giant black data cores filled the walls either side of the door. Think cable clusters snaked from the side of each rack and connected them to eight cockpit sized modules sitting on raised platforms. They were much smaller than Ellie had expected them to be. She thought they would be full sized fighters, but of course it made sense they would only need the cockpits. She wondered how realistic they could really be.