Character Perspective: Mendez

Kill was not having it, skipping dinner and locking himself away in his lab. I couldn’t blame him though, the dude had majorly bunged things up with his trial and error going so off the rails so damn quickly.

I wasn’t the best shot, I knew that, but hey thanks to the shots I did hit and Ty’s perfect timing, at least we didn’t leave the trial with no points at all. I’d need to practice though, in truth, I still had no idea what I was doing in the same level of training as the rest of these guys. I was a medic, I treated wounds and kept the crew healthy, my position on the bridge was honorary at best.

My abuela probably would have told me to try and bring some life to the bridge and I liked to think that I was doing a bit of that. It was still a bit early for me to go total comic, but when the trials were less severe, I’d be happy to get everyone laughing, but unless I started to actually beef up my ancillary skills, I was only gonna be detrimental in the trials.

The common room was empty, and I sighed. I could always chill and watch some of TV on my own, we did get all the streams up here, but I’d have to be loco to sit around watching a damn screen alone when I could be discovering more of the campus. I had done it the previous night, finding the courtyard under the modified glass dome a rather peaceful place with the Earth hanging in the sky overhead.

It loomed over the dome, the station passing over the United American Regions on the dark side of the planet. You could see the strings of artificial light in clusters over the planet, though even now there were spots that were somehow completely dark, untouched by civilization and I couldn’t help but keep my eyes toward it as I navigated the barely lit paths heading toward the main space of the campus.

There was a small girl sitting in the middle of the courtyard, her jacket taken off and thrown off to the side as she stared up toward the blue and green marble. While this was a big academy and there were plenty of other classes, I was actually surprised to find I recognized this girl from the brief orientation prior to our trial.

“Hola pequeña capitana,” I said. It would have been rude to just go walking by her, but she seemed to jump slightly, and I noticed as she reached up to pull a pair of headphones from her ears.

“Oh hi, were you saying something? I had some tunes going,” she said with a friendly but curious smile and her blue eyes sparkled slightly in the artificial light of a nearby path lamp.

“I was just saying hi, mi bonita senorita,” I gave her my best smile and her pale cheeks flushed ever so slightly.

“Trying to seduce the enemy, are you?” She raised an eyebrow curiously.

"And what if I am?” I shot back.

“Then wouldn’t it be better to start with a name?” the girl shot back quickly, and I felt myself smile.

“Julio Mendez,” I said, quickly dropping down next to her and taking the hand she had slightly outstretched, placing a kiss on the back of it. “The pleasure is mine,” I looked up with a wink.

Kill could put this place on a pedestal all he wanted, but I knew it for what it was. Star Launch was a college. More elite than even the Ivy Leagues used to be in old American History or the Oxford College in the UK, and those of us talented enough to get up here were more than deserving enough to mingle, right?

“Kara Stevens,” the girl actually giggled, a melodic tone that was literal music to my ears. “Based on the silver in your jacket I’ll have to assume you’re on the NEUTRINO, what department?”

“Medical,” I answered honestly as I let go of her hand and crossed my legs. “Mi Padre y Abuelo were both doctors, they’ve been teaching me since I was old enough to hold a scalpel. Probably unethical to make surgery a family business but given how much I crushed my Pre-Med scores there ain’t nothing that the stuffier folks that went to full Pre-Med Academies can do that I can’t do better.”

“My Doc went to a Pre-Med Academy instead of the basic ground school and I have no complaints,” Kara replied quickly.

“Felicidades,” I smirked, “And how did she assist you’re crew in obtaining such a great score in our first outing?” I probed.

“Oh, so you are trying to probe the enemy for information huh?” She smiled, dodging the question as her cheeks pulled tight and the freckles on her cheek spread. Though her words were accusatory, the smile itself made it so I could tell that her tone was playful.

“Just trying to make friendly conversation,” I laughed. “Besides, you’re the one who told me your Doc went to Pre-Med, sounds to me like you wanted to share.”

“Maybe it’s just nice to talk to someone who isn’t on my crew, everyone’s taking things so seriously, it’s nice to just goof a bit, y’know,” Kara said almost wistfully as she turned her eyes back to the sky and her auburn hair draped back toward the ground. “I feel like we all hit the ground running here and haven’t just, y’know, had a moment to really be college kids.”

“Exactamente! My whole crew doesn’t seem to think this is a damn college but like, that’s exactly what it is,” I said, barely keeping my voice from rising to a shout. “Like we gotta be able to enjoy our time here, we are still in school right?”

“I’m a legacy actually and that was the advice that my mom gave me. She said once you are out to space, there’s so little time for “fun” unless you are planet-side that you gotta enjoy it these last few years,” Kara leaned back onto her elbows as she looked back up to the Earth again.

“Órale, really? You’re not a First-Gen Spacy?” I asked and she just shook her head.

“Third Generation actually,” She said with a smirk, “My grandpa was the Captain of the SLS CABOT, and my mom was Engineering on the SLS LEWIS.”

“Damn, well you just got like, a dozen times more interesting,” I said, and I actually meant it. Legacies were rare as all hell, to be talking to a third-gen, that was an opportunity he sure as hell wasn’t gonna turn down.

“Oh, and I wasn’t interesting enough already for you, Julio?” Kara looked over, breaking her gaze from the planet to look back over to me.

“Well I never said that now,” I grinned and adjusted myself down to my side, “Just means I gotta up my game a little bit to keep up.”

“I might be a Third Gen to come up to space, but you’ve got the same claim with your family medical history, and even better that means you’ve probably gotten more hands on experience in your field than I do, I’d go as far as saying that puts you a step ahead of me when it comes down to how qualified our family accomplishments make us in particular,” she replied, pushing back to a seated position.

“Oh, so you’re saying that I am interesting enough for you?” I cocked my head to the side, and she gave me a teasing grin that actually left butterflies in my stomach.

“Well, I never said that now.”

Oh yeah, this place was definitely a college, and sure I was going to complete my training, but I was also certainly going to enjoy the hell out of my time here.