Links to other sites on the Web"This stinks!" Harlan Band threw his compupad to the floor and relished in the clash that sounded. "I'll never be prepared for these exams!"
"There's too many of them," Suzee agreed. "UPP History, UPP Literature, UPP Science and Technology…" her sentence trailed off and was replaced with a look of disgust. "I don't even attend the Starcademy!"
All five space cadets were seated on the circular couch in the lounge of the Christa, compupads in hand, indulging in what Earthers called "cramming."
"There is a bright side," Rosie tried to convince the crew. "Look at all we're learning!"
"Trying to memorize a bunch of random facts one day before a test won't teach us anything," Bova said in a scientific drone. "The information will register in our short term memories and will be forgotten within a day."
Nobody was quite comforted by the Urasian's words.
Radu was the only one who had managed to keep quiet during the "study session". He was already flunking- or near flunking- all of his classes and an F on his exam would only build up his sense of failure. Andromedans never tolerated a failure, not since the war.
Getting lost in space years away from home had not improved the grades of any of the space cadets. Sometimes when Davenport and Goddard looked over their poor papers and tests, a disgust registered on their faces, as if they were recalling their initial thoughts of the students being too far behind, intellectually, to survive as STARDOGS. Harlan in particular often thought upon his old friends from the Starcademy, talented scholars who were confident upon embarking their deep space projects and whose teachers were proud of them.
No one seemed proud of cadets Harlan Band, Radu 386, Catalina, Bova, Rosie Ianni or even Suzee.
The crew was so absorbed in bickering that they barely heard the shrill rings of the warning bell. Danger.
Like one body, the five space cadets leaped from the couch and shot down the jumptubes. Moments later they emerged in the ComPost, one after another.
"Where have you been?!" Goddard yelled, fiddling with the helm. "Don't you know how to respond to an emergency?"
"What seems to be the problem?" Harlan asked with a little bit of bravado, while he reclaimed his station from the commander.
One needed only look at the viewscreen to know. A small but menacing vessel loomed just ahead, lights of a weapon flicking on, as if being activated.
"Mr. Bova, shields up!" Goddard ordered with tense urgency. The Urasian's hands moved frantically across the console as a laser torpedo escaped the vessel, heading straight for them.
The shields came up just in time and the ship rocked from the sudden impact.
"Suzee, assess damage!"
"I'm on it," Suzee answered Goddard curtly, logging into her station.
"Mr. Band, get us out of here!"
Harlan started to comply, but suddenly stopped. "We're not just gonna run away? Can't we try talking to them?"
"They don't want to talk!" Goddard snapped and indeed the canon was firing up again. "Mr. Radu, where can we go? Are there any friendly systems?"
Radu was already scanning the charts. "N- nowhere," he answered nervously. "No planets, not even that many stars."
"And the starburst?"
Suzee looked up, stricken. "Offline."
For a moment, all sat frozen in place. Suddenly, a clatter emerged from the doors and Ms. Davenport stumbled in, followed by Thelma. "What in good heavens is going on?!"
"There seems to be an attack on the Christa," Thelma answered calmly, as if saying "The Gizbot seems to have a short circuit."
Harlan looked at Rosie with intensity. "Open a communications link."
The Mercurian remained frozen, debating whether to obey her friend or her commanding officer.
"Just open it before we get blown to bits!"
Hastilly Rosie preformed the sequence and a large slug like body, decorated in ornate jewels, filled up the viewscreen.
Harlan took a deep breath and stood up tall. "I am Commander Harlan Band of the starship Christa," he said, ignoring a dark glare being sent to him from Goddard. "We mean you no harm."
The slug alien shifted, sending various folds of his body rippling. "I am Emperor Mefunda of the Slurite race," he said in a deep resounding voice. "You are trespassing in the Sluritian Empire."
"We are strangers here," Harlan said earnestly. "We do not know the area. Where we come from, empires center around solar systems."
Mefunda paused thoughtfully. "Your ship has no weapons?"
Bova snorted before Harlan had a chance to answer. "Not unless my tactical console has gone completely wacko!"
Mefunda's thoughtfulness deepened into remorse. "The scans we have preformed on your ship confirms this." A sigh emitted from the slug creature's throat. "Tell your navigator to direct you 200 kilometers portside, away from my empire, and continue forward from there. Go in peace, starship Christa. We are sorry for any damage we have caused you." The viewscreen fizzled, and went to black.
The crew watched in silence as it switched back to space where the canon's lights were diminishing as the vessel sped away.
Goddard cleared his throat with a growl. The space cadets turned to look at him warily. "That was quite a risk, Mr. Band," he said finally. "If you all had gotten here on time we might have avoided it altogether. But… it worked." He paused and the students continued to stare in disbelief. "Congratulations Mr. Band. Congratulations to you all." Abruptly, he left the room.
Ms. Davenport, still recovering from shock, exited without comment, Thelma trailing after her.
The crew of starship Christa remained in place, thinking of the Starcademy, of all the scholars who delved into space ahead of them and all their proud teachers.
Long after Suzee repaired the hyperdrive, Rosie and Bova fixed all other damages and Harlan and Radu reset course, the five of them sat on the circular couch in the lounge, with their compupads in their laps, gazing at their compiled notes as if they were no more important than scribbling.
"I can't believe these meant so much to me this morning," Harlan mumbled.
"You see!" Rosie cried out happily. "There's more to life than exams. Just look at how we handled ourselves today. We're survivors!"
For once, her classmates didn't argue.
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