The hot topic at breakfast the next day was the new batch of draftees that were just unloading off the shuttles. They were the first shuttles to arrive since 37 and there was some excitement to not be the newest on base.
“Yeah, ‘bout time we is done being newbies,” Biloxi, grinned when he saw the recruits standing in line for roll call.
“Fresh meat.” Pauly laughed. “Oh, looks like they got a few from out my way.” He was standing in line behind Kat obviously hacking the shuttle manifests.
Bri thought about the stories Pauly told, about what it was like to live out past the M-Belts.
Pauly was from a planet in Revelation’s sector but grew up on M7E3 (Messy 3) - a planet the New Terran council had elected not to colonize because of the abundance of previously uncatalogued animal life. To hear Pauly tell the tale, the entire planet was a daily battle of fantastic creatures, from ultra-predators with teeth three feet long, to flowers that ate entire birds.
How did he get to such a weird place? His mother died in childbirth which left poor Pauly with his father, a zoologist who decided that wandering half the galaxy was as good a place as any to raise a kid. Of course, being alone out past the belt with a handful of scientist meant that Pauly wasn’t exactly well-socialized.
He wasn’t good with jokes or long conversations, he wasn’t good with people, but he was really good with tech and could jack into just about any system - secured or unsecured. He also had amazing stories and feeds of weird and incredible creatures. Everybody loved him.
“Yeah, look at those kids.” Kat laughed as they waited in line. “They have no idea what they’re in for,” She shook her head and looked down at her boots.
But while everyone else was joking and laughing about the new arrivals, Bri couldn’t help but remember their first days on base. It hadn’t been easy stepping off the shuttle and that whatever you had planned for the rest of your life was on hold until after the war – no mentorships, no field study, and no holidays. The war had changed New Terran life, everything.
She glanced over 37 and remembered each of them six weeks before and how different they had been. How Biloxi had been so terrified of everything. How he had never seen anything like the display consoles or wristcalls. How he was afraid of heights and was such a nervous wreck that he turned pale green every time Andrews said his name.
She thought of the way Pauly had hacked into the personnel files the first day. How over the weeks he had slipped into the control systems and altered some of Mary’s commands.
And then there was Kat. She really hadn’t changed much. Bri grinned when she remembered the swing Kat had taken at Anderson. Had she hit him, she would have broken his jaw and probably ended up in stasis, but the Major was faster than any of them had thought possible.
The truth was everyone had changed since they had arrived. It was impossible to go through what they had been through and not change. Some smiled more, others less. Some missed home while guys like Cooper couldn’t believe the opportunity military service provided.
“How many do you think will make it?” Bri looked back over the line of people standing outside of the shuttles half-awake and wearing civilian clothes.
“Currently,” Pauly spoke up, “the average matriculation rate is eighty-seven percent which leaves thirteen percent excused from duty shortly after arrival.” They had made it to the breakfast buffet. Pauly looked at the soldier on the other side of the table.
“Boy loves that lens,” Kat chuckled and grabbed her own apple.
“What?” Pauly looked confused. “I didn’t hack into anything. It was a search, a simple search! I mean, hey, they put a digital relay in our optics with a processor, I get to play with the code a bit, right?”
Bri activated her own lens. She selected the local feeds and while they moved through the lunch line like a line of cattle, she ran her eyes across the few headlines that were allowed.
Details were scant but Earther forces were pushing further and further into New Terran space. Assemblage councils were pulling together everything they had, the draft now included all Assemblage planets, asteroids, and any other rock people chose to live and work on.
Reports were that Earther ships had begun pushing toward the capital planets. A small planet only 27 light years from Revelation had repelled an Earther attack, but the planet was evacuating because of the damage.
Bri exited the interface and the overlay disappeared. She thought of Ley-Fen, her little brother and sister, her mother, and their little house. Everything in their world was still peaceful, exactly how she had left it. But how long before the war touches them?