Character Perspective: Curtis

“You get all that puke out of your system Novarod?” I asked, looking at the skinny guy that had been stuck in the seat next to me for the ride up. Ground School was large and even though I had seen many of my new crew mates in passing before we received our flight numbers, there had been no allotted time for meet and greets, our ground crew handlers insisting that our bodies had to be properly groomed for the shift to Academy Standards and the gravity fields that maintained the Earth-like atmosphere.

Novarod nodded and raised a thumb, “Nerves I think, still can’t believe I’m here,” he replied.

“Tell me about it,” I said, “Even my dad who works down in Ground Command didn’t think I’d get in, but hey, proved him wrong!” I couldn’t help but gloat, if there ever was an appropriate time and group of people to do so too, the others in my flight had to be it. Nobody made it through three years of accelerated junior high and four years of nonstop prep-school without feeling a little smug, that much I had learned extensively as I went through my final Ground School training in the last month before we were shipped up here.

“Shit you’re a legacy? Bro that is so hype,” A tan skinned guy said as he plopped onto a couch in our common area, his uniform jacket unzipped but after I focused on it I could see Mendez stitched into it.

“Nah I wish, I’m a First-Gen Spacy,” I replied. Legacies were the flight members that had family already a part of the Star Launch Fleet. It didn’t happen often, generally when a flight left Earth’s gravity, it was gone for at least a decade, only regularly transmitting and communicating back with home on the progress of their travels.

Even with all the advancements to space flight, we still hadn’t fully cracked the speed problem with getting around the galaxy, only managing to partially expand our knowledge of warp drives and faster than light travel. As of now Star Launch’s primary goal was to explore and discover the stars. Vessels were exploratory by nature and thus crews launched were exploring new reaches for the first time in centuries. Amongst other things, they were expected to explore planets and search for habitability.

There was always the possibility of the eventual extra terrestrial contact too, yet the universe was a big place, and as of yet, nothing had appeared. In all likelihood, when First Contact did happen though, it would be through a Star Launch crew, and the chances that I could be apart of something so grand was an honor all itself.

“Still though, didn’t having a dad in Ground Command get you any special treatment in getting here?” Mendez asked leaning forward and scratching the side of his head.

“I bet that made it harder for him actually, right?” Novarod asked, “I mean, like don’t they put extra scrutiny on Ground Command family trying to apply to make sure there’s no special treatment at all?”

“Nailed it in one,” I said. “I had to go two sectors over for my prep school just so that there wasn’t any chance that any of my teachers would have worked with my dad before, not to mention having to undertake my final application exam in a solitary room. It was nuts,” I sighed.

Before the guys could say anything else, the sounds of footsteps on the stairs alerted us to the rest of the crew. Like the rest of us, the girls had been outfitted in sleek black and silver uniforms that I thought looked amazing. I knew in time we would be allowed to add some customization, it was a rite of passage for any crew, but before we could do that, our crew had to really BECOME a crew. We waited till everyone had grabbed a seat before I decided to take charge and get to work.

“So… How about we just, do that whole awkward introduction thing,” I said after a quiet that I felt we let go on too long. I cleared my throat before saying, “I’m Joseph Curtis the Sixteenth, call me Curtis or Joey, I’ll answer to either. I was specialized in Command and Navigation while in prep school.”

“Dang, sixteen of ya? You’re family couldn’t think of any more names?” A girl with braids said with a chuckle. “I’m Tyrene Reagan the First, Ty for short. You vying for the Crew Captain spot, Sixteen?” She asked.

“What is it with you and nicknames, Ty?” The girl that had asked our Commander a question asked, “First you latch onto Spacefly with me, now you’re trying Sixteen with Curtis?”

“Nicknames are important Spacefly,” Ty insisted, “It builds camaraderie!”

I cleared my throat, “What are your specializations Ty?”

“Weapons and Piloting, sir!” She said with an overzealous salute.

“And you, Spacefly?” I asked choosing to ignore the act. While I wasn’t necessarily trying to be the crew’s captain, given that no one else was taking control of the situation, I wasn’t going to sit it out either and given what I had specialized in, I was a pretty obvious choice.

“COME ON! I’m okay with nicknames but can we just let that one go please?” She cried out, “My name is Seraph Waverly, Sera is preferred. I’m Engineering specialized but I’m also Second Command and Navigation trained.”

The bridge teams weren’t random, Star Launch would never be so callous to just throw teams together and expect them to work well. Going into deep space required compatibility, it required synergy. I could already tell how the chips were falling, there wasn’t going to be another primary Command specialized member of the team here, I was already sure of it, but I wasn’t going to spell it out either. Our Commander hadn’t obviously.

“Chester Novarod, Pilot specialized with 6,500 hours of simulator training… I didn’t really take much time to specialize or train in much else so I have basic understanding of the other systems, maybe Navigation is my next best?” Novarod admitted. I nodded, though the fact that the flight up here had caused him as much sickness as it had worried me. Hopefully that was just nerves and not motion sickness.

“That’s a lotta hours,” Mendez whistled. “You just live in the simulator, ese?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Respect,” Mendez answered, kicking his feet up on the coffee table and leaning back into the plush blue sofa. “Julio Mendez, but you can call me Doc soon. I’m Medical and Command specialized, though I can fly every once in a while if Novarod needs to take a nap.”

“You forget I went to school with you Julio,” The boy who had remained quiet so far said before looking to the rest of us, “Seriously, I’ve watched his simulator flights, he is a debris magnet and should not be allowed near the flight controls under any circumstance.”

“Seriously Kill? You couldn’t even give me one day, one round in the simulator here on station before you ratted me out? Some friend you are,” Mendez complained, though a wry grin made it obvious that there probably weren’t any hard feelings.

“Killian Sullivan, Science and Engineering,” Killian turned his attention back to me and I nodded before turning to the tall girl who had yet to speak. I was already sure what she’d say were her specializations, the process of elimination had made it obvious, right?

“Victoria Plum, Vicky if yah like me, Plum if yah don’t. Second Command and Navigation specialized, looks like we got a full crew, eh mates?”