Saturday. 08:00 Cafeteria

John was yawning as he was waiting in line to get breakfast. Alice was standing behind him talking to Theresa. Kevin looked even more tired than John. Alice had to push John to get the line moving.

“Oh, my bad,” John mumbled as he walked forward to the servers, “Four eggs, six pieces of bacon, lots of hashbrowns, four slices of toast, and three blueberry waffles please.”

The server, very familiar with John’s black hole for a stomach, nodded and grabbed two plates. They loaded up the food and slid the first plate to John. The second plate was slid over to him right afterward. John smiled and walked to the drink stand.

John sat down at their table and picked up a piece of bacon and started to nibble on it. Kevin sat across from him and stared down at a sausage link. Alice and Theresa sat next to their husbands and looked at them curiously.

“I don’t get why you’re that tired?” Alice asked.

“Apparently you weren’t supposed to mix alcohol with those fucking horse pills I had to take. I didn’t sleep a wink last night.”

Theresa looked even more confused, “I’ve seen you chipper than the rest of us after thirty-six hours awake. This is new for you.”

Kevin finished a sausage link and seemed to pep up a bit, “Weird how the bottles say don’t mix with alcohol. Probably doesn’t mean a thing.”

John nodded as he shoveled a fork full of eggs into his mouth. Alice just shook her head at John’s pitiful reaction to this. She waved to Jessica and Thomas when they got to the head of the line back at the serving station.

Andern then plopped his tray down and immediately started to speak, “So John gets shot on campus, yet the campus police didn’t go apeshit. Have you really pissed off them too?”

John finished a piece of toast, “I mean, they are probably pissed at dealing with some of my bullshit, but I thought those guys were cool cats.”

Alice sighed, “You know damn well that’s why things didn’t go crazy yesterday.”

“Yeah. It was a carjacking across the street. One in a million kind of shot, fucking irritating thing about it was that the thief shot me via a negligent discharge.”

Thomas was a few feet away from the table, “Hold on, are you saying the guy didn’t even try to shoot you?”

John nodded, “Bingo. The APD report, which the assholes wouldn’t give me, but I have my ways, said the suspect didn’t try to shoot it, his finger slipped, or some bullshit excuse. The jackass got hit up on grand theft, larceny, assault, eluding, assault with a deadly weapon, and attempted murder.”

Alice laughed, “He actually asked a cop last night if he could invoke the right to mutual combat.”

“That is absolutely something you’d ask,” Jessica said with a grin, “Guessing they said no?”

“Yes, and then hung up on me. What a rude asshole,” John said before eating another slice of toast.

“Instead of taking that as a rejection of your request, you just did you,” Nathan laughed as he dug into his food.

“Too bad the cops caught the fool. He’s due for some extrajudicial punishment?”

Alice poked John’s cheek with a dirty butter knife, “Oops, and no. You don’t need that trouble.”

John grinned as he wiped his cheek with his napkin, “So anyway, how were y’alls interviews?”

“I fucking scored. We got based out of Epsilon Eridani,” Andern smiled as he excitedly pointed at both he and Kristin, “Eri-Prime station, the biggest one in the system.”

“I got assigned to the fourth attack wing, heavy cruiser CNS Singapore. Have you heard anything good about the Milan class cruisers John?” Kristin asked.

John shrugged, “They are eclectic ships, not exactly new. Its design was updated towards the end of the last war. The design has this weird mix of wartime and the new peace-time aesthetics. Tough buggers though.”

Theresa smiled, “Kinda surprised but we both got assigned to the CNS Mayflower.”

“Newish Campioni class carriers. Based out of the Lalande system,” Kevin said in a much more lively and awake way, “Third attack wing if I recall correctly.”

“Interesting that the two of you got assigned to the same ship. Didn’t think they did that,” Nathan said, “Also based out of Lalande but I’m on the CNS Aurora. Big ol’ battlecruiser attached to the third attack wing. One of the Mayflower’s escorts.”

Thomas took a bite of a waffle before speaking, “I’m on the Mayflower’s sister ship Speedwell. Seventh attack wing though, oddly enough based in the same system.”

“I’m with Kristin actually. I didn’t think they’d keep any of us together,” Jessica said.

“They split us up,” Brian said, “Eighth attack wing out of Alpha Canis Majoris, assigned to the CNS Queensland. Brand new Valiant class battleship.”

Andern laughed, “I was told I’d be assigned there, but I think that ring changed things.”

“You’ll survive,” Kristin said as she rolled her eyes.

“Sweety, I’m not even the slightest bit disappointed in that,” Andern happily munched on some bacon.

“He joins the Navy to get out of bumfuck nowhere North Dakota and then he is more excited than everyone because he got a station assignment,” Alice couldn’t hold back her laughter.

“You know, you can’t see shit if you orbit the same damn planet, my man,” Kevin was pointing his fork at him.

“Jealousy is what I’m hearing from this table,” Andern’s smile continued to glow.

“Where’d you go, John? You kinda bailed on us quickly last night,” Jessica asked.

“Yeah, my interview didn’t go all that well. Got assigned to the CNS Des Moines as I expected. Probably end up being in the intelligence department.”

Kevin laughed, “At least you’re going to be able to use those talents of yours fully. Presuming your CO doesn’t assign you to the engineering department or something stupid like that.”

“There is that, but my past actions may have my CO wanting to airlock me.”

“That really isn’t surprising at all John,” Jessica said plainly, “Not even in the slightest.”

“Hey, at least they held their end of the bargain. You guys should be in for some comfy assignments until your second lieutenants.”

Thomas put his finger up but was busy swallowing his last bite of food, “Speaking of, how long does it take to get promoted to third lieutenant?”

“It depends, doesn’t it?” Kristin said.

“Yeah, twelve months is technically the quickest. Count on it being closer to eighteen months to two years,” John said, “Six years from graduation is the average to first lieutenant. Then another three to six to lieutenant commander.”

“Twenty bucks he shaves five years off those totals,” Kevin said sarcastically.

“Of course, he will. And if he’s getting impatient, he’ll just fudge the records,” Nathan said.

John shook his head, “I’m not even going near that one dude.”

Their first meal of the weekend was going great. Until it was interrupted by an officer. They were scanning the room, clearly looking for specific cadets. They then spoke up.

“Cadets Lief, Vernon, Angelios, Walken, and Zimmer. Please come with me.”

John looked down at his plat in annoyance. He still had a waffle, two slices of bacon, and some hashbrowns left. He quickly cut the waffle in two and began piling the hashbrowns and bacon onto one side. He pushed the other have down and stood up. John walked over to the officer while eating his makeshift sandwich.

The girls at the table were just shaking their heads. Alice muttered something about a lack of syrup on the waffle. The guys all began to look at their plates for a moment before they were scolded. They didn’t need to be an uncouth asshole like John. Moments later the officer, thoroughly appalled at John, led the cadets out of the cafeteria.

8:45 Jones Hall – Central Auditorium

The assembled cadets were in a building and auditorium that most haven’t attended. This building was generally used to house the staff and for employee meetings. Based on who was assembled John was near-certain what they were there for. Patrice on the other hand had no idea why they were there.

“Don’t suppose you know what’s going on?” Patrice asked a very disinterested John.

“There’s fifteen of us here. That likely means it’s the top three in each division,” John didn’t look up from his tablet, “The officers are probably going to say that we’re the best of the best, but there are still finals so nothing is locked in stone.”

Terry butted in, “Lighting a fire under us to compete for more to see who the class valedictorian will be.”

Patrice laughed quietly, “Is it a competition, John?”

John looked up and shrugged, “Depends on how they grade our time aboard the ships. Purely on an academic level, no it’s not a question at all.”

The trio’s conversation was interrupted by several officers that appeared on stage. Most were academic advisors to the cadets. Admiral Melnyk, the commandant of the academy, walked to the lectern. All of the cadets stood and saluted.

“At ease, please sit, this is an informal conversation with you all,” Melnyk smiled, “You all are currently at the top cadets in each division. Though those places are not locked in stone. Finals are in a couple of weeks, and there can be points lost due to failed inspections or sloppy appearance. The salutatorian and valedictorian both will give speeches at commencement.”

“Ugh,” John and Patrice both said quietly.

“I want to personally congratulate all of you for the excellence you’ve shown in the past four years. I can safely speak on behalf of all of your past professors that we are all looking forward to your future endeavors.”

“But I do unfortunately have some bad news as I’m piling on some extra work. Each one of you needs to have a draft of your speech submitted to the commencement committee this coming Friday at 17:00.”

All of the cadets sighed, except John. He calmly opened up the messenger app on his tablet and began typing a short but direct message. It was addressed to the commencement commit. A document was attached to it before John sent it.

“Done and done,” John said under his breath.

John had planned for this eventuality and worked on writing a speech during downtimes during classes throughout the semester. Most of the finishing touches were taken care of when he got pulled into that special assignment.

“Enough rambling from me, it’s your day off and we don’t want to impose on you all too much. You're excused. Except for Cadet Lief, would you come up here, I need to chat with you.”

John stood up and walked up to the stage while the rest of the cadets filed out of the room. Admiral Melnyk was smiling. He waited to speak until all the cadets besides John had left the hall.

“Why am I not surprised you already started working on this?” the admiral was chuckling.

“It was a good time killer. Had plenty of that on the carrier during the op and here and there too.”

“I’ll level set with you John, you are far and away in the lead for the top spot in your class.”

John was caught a bit off-guard by that, “Interesting, I suppose some of the extra-curricular activities were overlooked.”

“More like justified. Well, most of them that is. You were the lone cadet during the first ship run that actually criticized themselves. Your history, as I know you are keenly aware, is troublesome yet your performance and achievements are unquestioned,” Melnyk sighed, “Despite that, it is highly unlikely that you’ll fall out of the top spot as long as the status quo continues.”

“I don’t plan on changing anything, sir.”

“Good, now about your interview. I’ve heard your interview went rather poorly.”

John laughed, “That’s charitable. His old man was part of the financial op on Third Fleet, then the good admiral blatantly lied to his kid about his questionable slush fund.”

Melnyk raised an eyebrow, “Questionable? I’ve heard it was outright illegal.”

“You probably heard right,” John winked, “In any case, it is what it is. I’ll survive.”

“Charles and I spoke,” Melnyk let that hang on, “He can find a captain and a ship more amenable to your presence. Worst case scenario you spend the first couple years on his flagship.”

John shook his head and simply spoke, “The thought is very appreciated sir, and I really do mean that, but the fact of the matter is this kind of thing is of my doing and I need to learn to work through it. For good or ill.”

“Even if it hurts your chances at promotions?”

“Yes sir. This is simply part of my journey.”

Melnyk nodded, “Very well, I’ll consider the matter settled. Enjoy the rest of your day.”

“Thank you, sir,” John saluted and then walked out of the room.

12:34 Drunken Cadet

Kristin was in a very pouty mood. That Andern was completely oblivious to it just made it worse. No, what made it worse was John not only noticed it but was talking to her about it.

“Look, finishing fourth isn’t a bad mark at all,” John said before lifting a hilariously large mug of Guinness.

“Now I’m pissed because this one,” Kristin gestured with her thumb to her fiancé, “Has completely ignored all the signs. And because Terry, of all people, is fucking ahead of me.”

“In his defense, you didn’t say anything. We are not mind readers.”

Kristin squinted at John.

“What? I'm not one anymore. And he’s definitely not one. He’s a very simple idiot.”

“What?” Andern looked over at John and pointed his finger at him.

“See?” John smiled before taking another drink.

Kristin took a drink of her fruity drink and then looked at John, “Your not helping.”

“Well, you can hope Terry sucks a big one during finals. Or loses his shit somehow.”

Alice joined in on the conversation, “He’s not wrong, being in the top ten is actually really good.”

“I am fifty-fifth,” Andern proclaimed happily.

“Top fifty percentile. Nice work my dude,” Nathan said with a grin.

“You daft idiot, in command you want to graduate as high as possible,” Thomas said, “Your first assignment can make or break your career.”

“Well…” John said, “It’s not that dire. But a serious fuck-up as an ensign or lower-ranked lieutenant can stunt your career. Fuckup as a first lieutenant or commander usually ends it.”

“I know I know,” Kristin said, “I just didn’t want Terry to beat me.”

“He hasn’t gotten you yet,” Theresa said, “How far off are you anyways?”

“Yeah, is he within reach?” Brian asked.

“According to this,” Kristin was waving her tablet, “I’m less than a percent behind him in my overall grades. But I have fewer demerits.”

John shook his head, “Don’t count on demerits to win. Professors usually give seniors plenty of leeway during the last month of class.”

“In other words, unless your acting like a complete fuck up,” Nathan began to fake coughing, “like Andern, then you’re not likely to earn any more.”

“Assholes, the whole lot of you,” Andern snapped back before chugging some beer.

“How much time do we have between graduation and shipping off?” Brian asked.

“Depends on our orders. Not less than a week and not more than two typically,” John said leaning back in his chair.

“We have nine days before we have to report for our transport to Manchester,” Alice was smiling, “We got civilian tickets on a starliner.”

“Thank god,” John smiled.

“Dick,” Kevin slammed his beer mug on the table, “We are going via troop transport.”

Jessica smiled, “We’re getting a ride on a new frigate. Have to work during the trip though.”

“The downside to that, if you want to call it, is that we’re part of the shakedown crew until we get to our station,” Kristin grinned, “And yes honey, that means you have to work too.”

“Shit,” Andern looked like someone stole from him.

“I’m heading back on a corvette that was retrofitted, fresh from the Martian shipyards,” Thomas said, “Also part of the shakedown crew.”

“Hot fucking damn. We scored the easy trip,” John smiled as he finished his beer.

“At least things will start on the right step. Just hope you can be smart with your interactions with the superior officers,” Alice grinned.

“What are the odds of the band getting back together down the road?” Andern asked.

Kristin set her drink down and answered ahead of John, “My guess is pretty low. We might be able to get one of us on the same ship, but I’d imagine it’d be very difficult.”

John nodded, “I can foresee a couple of scenarios, but they aren’t very likely. Plus, if we get command of a destroyer or frigate by second or first lieutenant, we aren’t going to have much pull to pick specific junior officers for a department role.”

“What’s the scenario that would allow for that?” Theresa asked.

“Special project where I’d be able to handpick my staff. Fat chance of that happening before being a Commander though,” John paused and thanked the waitress for delivering a fresh beer, “Basically this is our last rodeo together. Sucks but that’s military life.”

“Not to wax all poetically, but things have generally gone way better than I had imagined when I signed my life away,” Kevin said with a smile.

“Too true. Sitting in that bus in Miami was fucking terrifying,” Thomas said after a short pause remembering that event.

“Except for this guy,” Alice pointed at John, “All full of piss and vinegar.”

“Yeah, that was actually hatred and unnatural drive to complete a mission successfully,” Andern said.

John laughed, “I’m still not convinced you even know what the hell you’re doing.”

Andern laughed, “Spoiler alert, still don’t!”

The table laughed and continued to reminisce about all of the shenanigans they had been involved with over the past four years. It was an end of an era so to speak. In only two weeks finals would be upon them. Then their somewhat sheltered existences would be exposed to the realities of military life.