ShipCore

USD: Four hours after arrival to MIL-1A

Location: Van Biesbroeck’s star, Meltisar, MIL-1A, Navy Neurotrauma and Rehabilitation Center, Resident Annex A5, Room F

Alex watched as the floor nurse pushed a sedated, sleeping Elis out of the room. A nurse had already been by to take blood work and greet her. Now the doctors had worked up a series of tests that were slated to take several hours, leaving Alex with not much else to do.

Elis’s assigned space was mostly spartan except for a single reclining chair she had temporarily claimed. The room was quite orderly, with various medical instruments and things on the walls in a seemingly random distribution. A wall monitor offered access to news channels, and Alex briefly considered checking it out.

She felt drained from the litany of questions that the doctors had gone over with her about Elis’s condition. The thoroughness of the questions actually made her feel better. At least she felt the staff had genuine concern and desire to help her sister.

Alex pulled up her datapad and sent a quick message to Thraker. Gathering her things and bag with her ShipCore in it, she went to find something to eat while waiting. The medical center had its own cafeterias, but since Alex planned on joining Thraker for the meeting, she went back to the main hub instead.

The map software that Josh gave her worked fine on the Datapad, and she had got it to display on her HUD. That was something she had been trying to do for weeks, but never managed before. She had received no rampancy warnings or errors in a while as well.

That hinted to her that the more she practiced at certain things, the better she was getting at them. It was a simple concept that applied to most things, but she had not really expected it to affect her marginal ANUF abilities.

Maybe it was just because the ShipCore was getting more efficient at processing things with limited resources? That had been the one major thing she had read NAIs excelled at, adapting to new situations and streamlining them.

Alex almost didn’t notice the checkpoint ahead, and as soon as she saw it, she felt a tinge of nervousness. There were some bored looking guards that were passing people through with only a cursory glance at their IDs.

The worry that they’d check her bag and find the ShipCore turned out to be needless and the guard waved her on through the gate without comment.

As she followed the corridor leading to the Tram station, she noticed that most people she passed by were focused on themselves, not even paying her any mind. Half had their datapads out and only paid enough cursory attention to not run into someone as they walked by.

The pace was slower than the way in with the medical bed and allowed her to notice more minor details she had missed. Almost every wall section had a display and keypad, allowing for looking things up on the station net or physical device charging. Although a quick glance told her it wasn’t exactly free, there was a sign denoting credit costs for various access levels.

Of course, nothing was free. In her experience with stations, they took the chance to vacuum whatever small bits of credits they could. That seemed to be true on the frontier, and in Meltisar at least.

Waiting for the tram to arrive, Alex wondered if she’d get charged for the air, eventually.

She’d already paid the floor nurse for her medical visitor card, so she expected that the station had her credit number, anyway.

As she watched the timer tick down on the large screen above the tram access way, the space slowly filled until it was almost standing room only. The sudden clustering of people pricked her claustrophobia, and she slid her bag in front of her and wrapped an arm around it protectively.

The last thing she needed was for some thief to grab her ShipCore and run off with it.

When the gate buzzed and opened, she followed the crowd as it pushed forward into the small space. It was so packed it was impossible for the group to not jostle each other, but Alex was so tense that people quickly learned that bumping into her was like bumping into a rock. There were several curses as men who had expected her to move out of their way ended up stalled or halted until she had made her way onto the tram.

All the seats were rapidly taken, and she stood up against the wall beside the window. A chime sounded several times before the doors slid shut and the vehicle accelerated.

She had a much better view this time, and she looked down at Meltisar below. The clouds showed a big storm was swirling down from the northern pole towards the space elevator. She also had a good view of the Gas Giant, which absolutely dominated the scene.

When she looked hard enough, she could spot small craft in the form of small dots flying up and down near the massive elevator cable. It was hard for her to comprehend the numbers she’d seen on just how many people lived in the city below.

Evidence of just how many resources had to be sent down the cable to feed and supply them all was made apparent as the massive rectangular elevator climbers moved down and up in a choreographed manner. Each one looked small because of the distance, but was actually larger than the Tears, and could carry thousands of metric tons per trip.

And those trips never ceased, with multiple departures and arrivals every hour.

Staring out at the scenery, she stayed in her own head, listening to the announcements on the overhead comms and waiting for her station stop. The line only had one stop before they reached the main hub section, and that turned out to be where nearly everyone was headed.

She waited until most people had cleared out before exiting herself. Another checkpoint greeted her, but this one wasn’t even manned, requiring just a scan of her regular passport.

A sad boop chimed in her ear and the red text on her HUD informed her that the ride wasn’t free.

|Hub Line Tram Transit Fee -1,000 SE|

|Energy Surcharge -53 SE|

She didn’t care, feeling happy no one had searched her bag or questioned her. Besides, the trip had been quite fast for how many kilometers they’d traveled, and she doubted she’d have been able to go faster in a flight suit.

The thought reminded her of Rick and Sawet, and the crewman’s desire to go flying over the mountains on the moon below. She wondered how they were doing.

Alex blinked, suddenly stopped to the annoyance of the group behind her that suddenly had to go around.

Pulling out her datapad, she opened up the messaging interface and sent them a quick message asking if they were still on the station and telling them she was looking for something to eat.

The answer came back almost immediately from Rick. The two men were together and had no problem hopping on a tram once Alex figured out what hub station she was at. She hadn’t even realized there were 45 hub stations.

Number twelve was the one closest to the trailing station ribbon and since she’d got off on the first stop, was the one she had ended up on.

Standing waiting alone felt awkward, so she moved to the food court and started taking in all the different options available. And there were a lot of them.

Fried chicken, sushi, steak grills, burger joints, deli cut sandwiches and subs, spicy rice things, home-style mashed potatoes and fried steak… Alex’s head swirled with dozens of things Elis had never shown her yet. She got lost in the exploration that when Rick tapped on her shoulder to get her attention, she almost jumped out of her skin.

“Hey, sorry. We were saying your name, but you were ignoring us,” Rick said quickly. Sawet shrugged at her.

“It’s okay. I was just thinking about what to get to eat,” Alex said, before smiling.

Sawet nodded. “Yeah, a lot more choices than on the ship, right?”

Alex looked back at the pretty signage of the food places and pointed to one that had an interesting menu she wanted to try. “I want to try the Yakitori and Yaki Udon!”

“Already know what you want? Better go grab it then.” Rick said.

“Ah… but is that alright with both of you?” Alex asked.

Sawet laughed, “It’s a food court. We can all go get whatever we want, then meet at a table.”

Alex’s eyes lit up at the revelation. “Oh. I didn’t think of that.”

She hurried over to the store with no more need for prompting, eager to get the enticing smells on a plate. As soon as she stepped within the restaurant’s area as denoted by the markings on the floor, her datapad beeped.

A few flicks and presses later completed her order, although the cost was considerably higher than she expected.

|Yakitori plate: -785 SE|

|Yaki Udon: -588 SE|

|Energy Surcharge: -50 SE|

She joined a short line of people waiting. The smell of grilled meat and food was good enough to make her forget about her problems for a little while. One thing she noticed while spying on the other customer’s orders was that just about everyone in the food court was wearing a uniform.

They were mostly a close copy of the gray fatigues worn on the Iron Horse, and the coincidence clicked in her head. If most of the Iron Horse’s crew came from Meltisar, it made sense that they had the same general color for their uniforms.

There was a small mixing of dark navy blues and dark greens as well, but she wasn’t sure what those signified. Perhaps other branches of the military?

“56? 56? 56 is ready!” One employee called out, and Alex felt her face flush, realizing she’d been ignoring her own order. She quickly brought her tray back to where Rick and Sawet had picked a table for them.

“Hey, that looks pretty good,” Rick said as she sat down at the table. Looking at their plates, Rick had ended up with a cheeseburger and fries, while Sawet had a set of different meat gyros.

“I want… to try everything!” Alex said.

Rick chuckled. “Any idea how long you will be on station? Cause you’ll probably get the chance.”

Alex frowned. “No. I don’t know.”

Sawet and Rick shared a worried look. Rick offered her a French fry. “Here cheer up.”

Alex looked at it hesitantly before accepting it and taking a bite. Her eyes lit up.

“Hey! This is tasty!”

Sawet shook his head. “Wow, Myers, you need to be careful with how easy you are to bribe.”

Rick laughed. “I think it’s cute.”

They all ate while chatting about a few things that interested Alex. She found she was correct about the uniforms. Dark Navy was the color for the Meltisar Marines, and the Dark Green was the planetary ground forces and army.

Rick confirmed he had a recreational aircraft rented and ready to go, and Sawet still planned to go sunbathing at a seaside resort. Alex felt a bit disappointed they wouldn’t be on the station. She felt like having them around on the station would have made her feel a bit more comfortable.

“What about Martin? Did he figure things out?” Alex asked.

Rick and Sawet looked at each other, then shook their heads.

“He didn’t ask us for help, so I guess he figured it out?” Rick offered.

Sawet shrugged and continued to eat.

Before she realized how fast time was going by, the food was almost gone and the meal was almost over. Rick checked his datapad and frowned.

“Hey, Alex. We actually need to get out of here. Our elevator ride is coming up soon and you don’t get a refund if you miss your ticket.”

Alex nodded. “Don’t miss it on my account. I hope you both have fun on your vacation.”

“Thanks. Hope your sister gets better soon, too.” Sawet answered.

Rick shook her hand. “If you need help, you can always send one of us a message. Net is system wide, and I doubt the IHMC will go anywhere until the old man can fix up the ship. Probably going to take a while if he has to sell a frigate to make up the funds to do it.”

Alex smiled. “Thanks. I’ll message one of you if anything comes up.”

Sawet looked at her. “I might be back at the station in a week or two. We can grab lunch again around then.”

“Sure! That sounds good. Let me know when you’re back up here, then.”

Alex finished her noodles as they left, and she put her tray on one of the return racks. Feeling a bit lost about what to do with no message from Thraker, she roamed around the shopping area.

There were plenty of clothing outlets and boutique shops, but none of the clothes on display drew her interest and she saw nothing in particular that called to her. There were a lot more people in plain clothes shopping than there had been at the food court. A lot of the shops offered cashier-less service, and it impressed her how the system kept track of whatever was picked up and taken.

She wondered what would happen if someone didn’t have enough credits and tried to leave with something before realizing there wasn’t really anywhere for a shoplifter to escape to. Unlike Ackman Station, there weren’t any rundown areas that she had seen. Everything was sleek and in active service and there were so many more people…

Security cameras and guards were ever-present as well.

Halfway through the concourse, she noticed a line of people standing outside one storefront. It was interesting because most of them were young adults looking to be around the same age as her.

Well, the same age as her body. Technically, she was barely a year old. As she got closer, she could read the signage.

|Be a part of something bigger than yourself! |

|Gain valuable skills and experience! |

|Join the Meltisar Naval Forces Today! |

Wanting to know more, she approached one of the young women who was alone near the back of the line. The girl had long blonde hair and blue eyes and a lithe frame.

“Hi. Could I bother you?” Alex asked the girl.

The girl looked up from her datapad, a bit surprised at the intrusion. “Hi? Sure?”

Alex swallowed. “How come there are so many people lined up?”

“Oh. We’re waiting for the recruiter.”

Alex looked at the line of about a dozen people sticking out of the shop. “Is it always this crowded?”

“First time here, but maybe? My recruiter in Brisbane sent me here, anyway.”

Alex offered her hand to shake. “Sorry. My name’s Alex.”

“Rachel.” The girl accepted it and smiled. “Are you thinking about signing up, too?”

“Oh. Uhh. I don’t think so? Since I am from 92 Pegasi, I am not sure that would be an option for me. I don’t even know the requirements. I just saw the line and was interested.”

Rachel put it together quickly. “Oh! You’re a refugee from the fighting between the Corpos and Solarians!”

Alex gave a weak laugh. “Yeah… that news seems to be getting around pretty fast.”

“They should have listed the requirements on the Info net. You could check them on your datapad.” Rachel's eyes widened with concern. “Alex, you do have a datapad, right? You didn’t lose it when you lost your home, did you?”

“I have mine, yes.” Alex said. “What made you want to join the navy?”

“It’s a family thing. But mostly it has good pay and benefits. I want to go to university, but I couldn’t get a scholarship. I’m a genie and my UMS scores are good, though, and the recruiter said I have a shot at getting into the Naval Academy if I pass the interview.”

Alex felt confused. “You’re… a genie?”

“Umm, yeah? You know, someone who’s got an alternate genome? It’s not that uncommon?”

Understanding lit up in Alex’s eyes. “Oh. My adopted sister is like that. She has red hair.”

Rachel giggled. “You have blue hair, too. But yeah, that’s basic. There are a lot of other modifications than just hair and eye color. I have an accelerated metabolism and immune system. Also, faster nerve perception. It’s rated as a lot higher on the genie scale. You don’t see that in 92 Pegasi much?” Rachel asked.

“Not that I know of, but we never got around meeting that many people very well. We moved around a lot.” Alex hedged, feeling uneasy about revealing too much to someone she just met. “Aren’t you worried about joining with the Solarians and Corpos fighting?”

Rachel shook her head. “Not really. It’ll probably blow over soon. Maybe the defense budget will get raised again.”

Everyone seemed to have the same opinion on that, but Alex felt skeptical. They hadn’t seen the combat and bloodshed; entire ships being wiped out and crews killed. And both sides in 90 Pegasi seemed to go at each other with full intent to kill… with nothing held back. If the Solarians or Corpos had intended to make peace later, that seemed like a bad policy.

Then again… There had been no sign of the Fed-Tech ships or weapons deployed… but wasn’t that just a matter of future escalation? What would one side do if it risked losing systems? Wouldn’t it divert its stronger resources to counter?

And while the Solarians had a massive distance to travel from their core system to the frontier, they had a much shorter route right through corporate space.

Right through Meltisar.

The recruitment line moved, breaking Alex out of her thoughts. “Thank you for answering my questions.”

Rachel smiled at her. “No problem. I hope it helped!”

Alex nodded, and they waved as they parted. She hoped Rachel would do well and achieve what she was aiming for.

Needing to use the restroom, Alex sought one out. She didn’t have to go too far, and thankfully, it wasn’t crowded at all. A warning sign hinted at a large credit fine for vandalism and the insides were spotlessly clean.

That was probably because of the obvious video camera at the end of the line of stalls. While it was too low to see inside of them, there really wasn’t any privacy or going to be a question about who went into the stalls.

Alex shrugged the thought away, going about her business before going to wash her hands. The glass mirror was part display and Alex groaned when her balance suddenly booped.

|Restroom Fee -55 SE|

|Water Surcharge -11 SE|

|Energy Surcharge -25 SE|

That actually annoyed her. Suddenly she wished the stupid thing would tally it all up and send her a single bill because the constant reminder was… annoying!

Drying her hands, she looked up to the mirror to check her hair when the bottom dropped out of her stomach.

Something had replaced the display on the mirror with two scrawled words.

“Help Me.”

Alex blinked, frozen for a few seconds. Her racing thoughts were interrupted when two girls opened the door and entered, both happily chatting with each other. The display winked out before the newcomers came into view of it, returning to the standard mirror.

Still confused, and in shock at the sudden message, her datapad beeped. Alex pulled it out, half expecting a continuation of the message, but it turned out to be Thraker.

The meeting was set, and she was to meet him on hub 26 in thirty minutes.