Chapter Perspective: Reagan

“Jackson, Frena!” Mendez shouted as he ran on ahead of me down the hall toward a burly looking guy with a somewhat unkempt beard and dark brown hair pulled back into a bun. I tried to hop forward to catch up as the guy stopped and looked at him with curiosity.

“What’s up Mendez?” Jackson replied as he looked over to me as I sidled up next to them. “And um… Mendez’s friend?”

“She’s Weapons on my ship, but not the point,” Mendez replied, “Before I go running off on a fool’s errand, you know anywhere we can get some booze up here?”

“Damn you didn’t have to just go right out and say it…” I muttered and Jackson just laughed.

“Throwing a trial party?” He guessed and Mendez’s head cocked to the side in surprise. “Please Mendez, we’ve all thrown them. Yeah, so actually you need to head down to the Exchange on Level Three and talk to the service desk, they’ll call up your Instructor to get approval and you’ll be given a set allotment that should let you host a decent-ish party. There’s some other stuff like they have to track who goes to it and all that, but given that it’s the end of the class week, I don’t think you’ll run into too much issue.”

“Why the heck didn’t Commander Allen tell us about this!?” I complained. It felt like something that might have come up when he was telling us to enjoy the weekend.

“Most Instructors don’t, heck we figured it out pretty much how you guys are now, I think it’s cause if they outright tell us, then it would make us think they want to be annoyed by us partying,” Jackson said with a shrug before looking to his watch, “You’re in the Kirk building right?” he asked, his eyes meeting mine and I nodded.

“Yeah, over by the Eastern barrier,” I said.

“Cool… So are you guys trying to keep it a class party or what?” Jackson probed, his deep eyes darting between the two of us.

“Orale Hermano, you just said they only give us an allotment for parties, how the heck are we supposed to have fun with more than just some folks in our class?” Mendez sighed with a cocked brow.

“You got a lot to learn bud, if you’re smart with your parties, your team will learn to stash some of it away for a later time,” Jackson replied with a wink before checking his watch. “Hit me up on my datapad and let me know, I’ll round up some folks and you guys can finally really join the community up here.”

“Sounds good,” Mendez said before offering a fist that Jackson bumped before he headed off further down the hallway. Knowing we needed to head back to the lifts we waited for just a moment and once he rounded the corner but before Doc could take off again I crossed my arms pointedly and gave him a look. “What?” He asked, shrinking back slightly.

“I mean, you could have introduced me you know,” I complained.

“What? I did though!” He said as he started to head back toward the lifts so that we could head to the Exchange.

“You said “she’s weapons on my ship but that’s not the point”…. Hardly an introduction y’know…” I sighed as I followed.

“Why’s it matter?” he asked over his shoulder and I felt a blush race to my face as a knowing look glinted in his expression. “Oooooh, okay, you want him to come to the party then?” he added with a smirk.

“I mean… I wouldn’t mind,” I admitted. “Given the Captain’s rule about fraternization and all that, I wouldn’t mind meeting some other people. Not that that’s stopped you with Stevens.”

“Eh, we aren’t quite there, though maybe if she’s not too mad about us taking first place I can close the gap tonight,” Mendez laughed, stopping in front of the lift and hitting the call button.

“Is she really that competitive?”

“From what I’ve been able to tell, yeah, kind of,” he said and it was hard to miss the genuine smile on his face.

“And you like that in a lady?” I asked curiously. While we had all been getting to know each other, so much of it had still felt so surface level.

“I’m Hispanic, mi amiga, we like our women a little fiery,” Mendez laughed, stepping onto the lift as soon as the doors zipped open. “And you like your guys big, burly and hairy I take it?”

“It’s mostly the beard… but yeah, I guess you’re kind of right,” I admitted and followed him in. I hadn’t been in the lifts that much, at least compared to our Doc it would seem, but just seeing the amount of levels the station had left me slightly in awe of just how massive the Academy really was and how lucky we were to be living in the dome top that allowed for an actual view instead of just sleek metal corridors everywhere.

“Well then let’s hope the others get the Commander’s okay since we are definitely gonna need it for approval,” Mendez said as the lift began to rapidly descend.

“I think he will, all things considered I’ve always kinda thought Commander Allen was a bit more lenient than the other instructors we’ve seen here, even from the beginning when he had to be reminded about the protocol and all that, y’know?”

“Yeah I got that vibe too,” he agreed and I could actually feel as the rapid descent began to slow. “Even for all of Curtis’s bravado though, I kinda get he’s more laid back than Kara or the dude who runs the MEGALODON, do we know anyone on that ship? I feel like they have just kinda been squirreled away this whole time, never even see them out on the Quad.”

“Their Captain’s name is Armstrong or something like that. I only really know Bailey from our Weapons class and he’s okay, if not a bit of a clichéd Weapons specialist who thinks it’s a boy’s club,” I said with a sigh. “Honestly, I’ll be glad when we have a trial where I can really show off and rack up the points for us, just to rub their noses in it.”

“Is it really that bad?” Mendez probed curiously as exited the lift, quickly making space as a group of older men carrying bags all took the open elevator.

“Probably not as much as I’m making it out to be, but it’s nice to be able to show off all the same, right?” I asked.

“I suppose, not much room for showing off in Medical. It’s more about keeping folks healthy and accounting for accidents,” he replied with a shrug as he headed down the hallway toward the light hum of noise. “But Dr. McFarlane, one of my instructors insisted that there are trials that will give us an opportunity to shine, somehow…”

“Hey don’t discount that drone piloting, though I take your meaning,” I said, shoving him lightly as we approached a sign lit up that said Station Exchange and the noise we had been hearing became apparent as a crowd of other students and station workers moved amongst what seemed to be a small scale grocery store. “Now let’s get this ball in motion, I’m ready to party.”