Claim the Stars: A Jensa story

Chapter 2

Jorgen POV:

I breathed out softly as Cobb turned on my hologram. I could hear each of the other cadets doing the same, but I wasn't focused on them. Look at this thing! We were on one of the launch pads in Alta. The simulation was so exact I could make out plates of food and drinks in glasses through the wall of the mess hall behind us. I inspected the dashboard of the cockpit. It was a Poco class fighter, just like the ones I had trained in with my father. I resisted the urge to stick my hand out the side of the cockpit like some of the others were doing.

"Alright, cadets!" Cobb said. It was surreal to hear his voice something from seemingly nowhere. "Today, we are going to practice three things: coming up, going down, and not dying while you do either. You're also going to learn to use your radio. The set of blue buttons on the top left of your control panel manages that. You'll need to accustom yourself to open a line to the entire flight, your flight leader, or a specific member of your flight. 

"Let's practice takeoffs. That should-"

"Sir." I interrupted. "I can show them."

"Alright cadet. I'm willing to let someone else do the hard work for me. Let's see you get them into the sky."

"Yes, sir! Flight, your ships do not need their boosters to raise or lower your altitude. That is handled by the acclivity ring, the hooplike device under every starship. Its power switch is...um...top of the front console, the red button. Never turn that off when flying or you'll drop like a piece of debris." I hit the button and my dashboard lit up. "Use your control sphere to bank right or left, or to make small movements. To make a quick ascent, use the smaller lever by the throttle, and pull it upward."

My ship lifted into the air in a steady ascent straight up. I watched as the ten ships lit up...and then crashed. They all crashed. Spensa's ship sprang back and crashed into the mess hall. Rig flipped his completely upsidedown somehow. Kimmalyn darted up into the air, screamed at the sudden movement and brought herself back down and flattened on the launchpad.

"Altitude control only," I said. "Don't touch the control sphere right now, cadets."

Cobb chuckled from outside somewhere.

"Sir," I started embarrassed by that performance. "I...er...that..." I fell silent. "Huh."

"Congratulations, cadets," Cobb said. "I'm pretty sure half of you are dead now. Thoughts, flight leader?"

Spensa POV:

"I didn't expect them to be that hopeless, sir." Jerkface said from his ship. 

"We're not hopeless," I said. "Just...eager."

"And maybe a little embarrassed," Kimmalyn noted. 

"Speak for yourself," a girl's voice said through my earpiece. It was Hudiya, the athletic girl with the loose jacket. "Oh, my stomach. I think I'm going to hurl. Can I do it again?"

"Again?" Kimmalyn asked.

"It was awesome!"

"You just said you thought you were going to hurl."

"In a good way."

"How do you hurl in a good way?"

"Attention!" Cobb snaped. My ship fuzzed around me and suddenly all of us were back in a line, our ships whole again.

For the next three hours, we took off and landed. 

Eventually, we all managed to make it up and down five times in a row without crashing. 

Cobb sent us up in a line at five hundred on the altimeter. Jerkface zoomed past and did a little flip before settling in.

Show off.

I had to admire the precision of his flip, although small, he executed it perfectly.

"Alright, flight leader," Cobb said pulling me out of my thoughts. "Call your flight roll and get a verbal confirmation of readiness from each member. You'll do this before every engagement. Flight, if you are experiencing troubles, tell your flight leader. If you go into battle knowing something is wrong with your ship, then you are responsible for the damage you might cause."

"Yes, sir," we belted out.

"Cadet Flight B," Jerkface said. "Time to-"

"Cadet Flight B?" Cobb said. "You can come up with a better name than that, flight leader." 

"Err.. yes, sir. Um..."

"Skyward Flight," I said into the silence.

"Skyward flight," Jerkface said jumping on the name. "Roll call and confirmation of readiness, in order of dashboard ship identification."

"Skyward 2," said the taller of Jerkfaces two cronies. "Callsign: Nedder. Confirmed."

"Skyward 3," said Hudiya. "Callsign: Hurl. Confirmed."

"Seriously?" Jerkface asked. "Hurl?"

"Memorable, isn't it?" she asked.

"Skyward 4," said Rig. "Callsign: Rigamarole. Confirmed."

"Skyward 5," said Arturo, the shorter of the two cronies. "Callsign: Amphisbaena."

"Amphi- what?" Hurl asked.

"It's a two-headed dragon," Arturo said. "It's an extremely fearsome animal from mythology. Confirmed."

"Skyward 6," Kimmalyn said. "Callsign...I need one of those huh?"

"Saint," I suggested.

"Oh stars no. I'll be... Quick! No need to procrastinate my choice. The saint always said: save time and do that job now."

"How," Arturo said, "does doing something now save you any time? Theoretically, the indicated job will take the same amount of time now as it would later." 

"Skyward 7. Callsign: Morning Tide. Confirmed."

"Skyward 8. Bim! That's my name, not my callsign, I'll get back to on that later. I don't want to screw it up. And confirmed, by the way!"

"Skyward 9. Callsign: FM. Confirmed."

Ske had launched her ship the first time without crashing-the only one who had done that beside Jerkface and his cronies.

"Skyward 10. Callsign: Spin. Confirmed."