Dayton had gotten more sleep on the flight to Earth’s Landport in western Egypt than he had during the night. The three-hour flight for him was spent with Danin as she gave him a Link Key that was coded to his fingerprint. She’d updated and digitized his ID. She’d also opened a new email and bank account for him at Universal providers. His money had barely added up to 0.3 of a Star Dollar, but she’d transferred it over anyway as well as given him 100 Star Dollars seeing as that was the minimum required to open an account.

“Take it as a Graduation Gift,” she’d said.

But even if it was the most common currency used in the known universe, 100 Star Dollars was roughly equivalent to 1 million US dollars. He’d never seen a million dollars in real life, and imagining the zeroes left him overwhelmed.

“Now, your emails will be monitored, so even if you have all of our contacts, no sensitive information should be talked about,” said Danin.

“What about a code word?” asked Dayton.

“No code words, it’ll be suspicious no matter what the code word is,” said the General.

“Even if I say something like, ‘my scars are itching’ to Yasra?”

Yasra looked at the General, “That would be a fair enough excuse for him to alert me to an impromptu appointment should anything medical arise”.

The General sighed, “That’s it. Nothing else”.

Dayton nodded.

Following Danin showing him how to use his Link Key, he promptly fell asleep. He was woken about two and a half hours later when descent began, and he watched out the window as several ships capable of space flight came into view. From what he was aware, there were actually very few ships that came to Earth, and most of them were passenger ships to take any prospective Academy Candidates off world to a larger port a few light-years away.

There was one ship however, that was occupying the diplomatic space. It was only small for a ship, about the length of a semi-truck and the height of a two-storey house, thicker in the centre with two wing-like Engines on the sides. It was painted all black with a singular red stripe down the side, designating the code number 2.73.12-LD.

Second Army, 73rd Corps, 12th Registered Vessel, Lusvellan Diplomatic.

After a very brief talk with the Port’s Supervisor, which constituted a lot of respectful head nodding and bowing from the Supervisor, and a brief, “Clear the air, we’re leaving in ten minutes”, from Danin, the four of them boarded the ship, which constituted two small bunk rooms, a single bathroom, a storage area, and a large, open bridge with a total of 12 seats, not including the four pilot and monitoring seats in a U shape below the front windows of the vessel.

The General and Danin took seats in the two front most chairs immediately and Yasra indicated for Dayton to take one of the free seats behind them. A strap almost immediately buckled him in and Yasra sat down beside him comfortably.

“Lusvellan Diplomatic Vessel two dot seven three dot one two dash L D is warming engines and waiting for departure signal,” Danin spoke into the microphone she gently hooked around the back of her head and onto both ears. It was small, thin and sleek but Dayton could tell immediately that it was a high-tech headset.

She received a reply almost immediately that Dayton couldn’t hear, but he did hear the engines humming rhythmically as the General flicked several controls. The entrance hatch down behind them closed as well.

“Engaging Inertial Dampeners,” stated the General.

“Green light in three minutes and counting,” Danin said.

They worked in sync, no need to ask each other questions. It was a testament to how long they had worked together.

Dayton turned to Yasra, “How long have you worked together?”

Yasra smiled, “Danin and the General knew each other before they even reached the Academy. Their families were both Military. I met them our third year. In all, it’s going on six decades that we’ve been working together”.

Dayton blanched. They all looked so young.

“What?” asked Yasra.

“I keep forgetting that you don’t age the same because of the Genetic Enhancers. It’s weird,” said Dayton.

“Ah, better get used to that,” said Yasra.

“One minute, Passengers and Cargo checks complete, all secured,” stated Danin, she then flicked a few switches, “This is two dot seven three dot one two dash L D hailing two dot seven three dot zero one dash L F, we are forty seconds out from lift off and requesting acknowledgement for boarding protocols”.

A short break before a reply must have come, “Much appreciated Flagship Command, we’ll be with you in ten minutes”.

Danin then turned to the General, “They’re rolling out the welcome mat for you General”.

The General rolled his eyes, “We good to go?”

Danin paused, “In three…two…one…we’re green”.

Dayton could tell the ship was moving from the altering view out of the front window as it rose several metres above the ground, turning as it went. But he couldn’t actually feel it. When they were almost at the height of the lower clouds, the ship paused a moment, the mechanical buzz of the wings turning before the ship moved rapidly in a diagonal trajectory up into the upper atmosphere.

The sky grew darker and darker, until all Dayton could see was an expanse of stars around him. Just as Dayton began to feel weightless, Danin spoke again, “Earthsphere Landport, this is two dot seven three dot one two dash LD confirming we have exited the upper atmosphere”.

“Engaging Artificial Gravity,” stated the General, and suddenly, Dayton didn’t feel weightless anymore.

Danin nodded at whatever reply she received, then clicked a button to cut off the communication as the ship continued to move deeper into space. There was no back window, so Dayton couldn’t see the earth until the General altered course in a high orbit, turning to circle the earth.

It was truly a marvel was the Air Scrubbers had managed. The Earth looked so clean even compared to a decade ago. From reports he had heard, plastics pollution had also been reversed, and melting ice had paused. The extreme weather conditions that had been increasingly common has also been placated, leading to a much more natural and forgiving environment. Even if he held no attachments to those on the planet, Dayton couldn’t deny that the planet itself meant a lot to him. It had been where he was born and where he grew up. He would miss it.

His thoughts were disturbed by Danin’s voice.

“This is two dot seven three dot one two dash L D confirming docking lock,” said Danin.

And there before them, blotting out the view of the stars beyond yet painted completely black with a singular red stripe down its side, was a ship larger than anything Dayton had ever seen or imagined, so big that Dayton couldn’t see the entire thing with the view before him.

“Handing over controls,” the General stated. There was a reply and a light before the General turned from green to yellow. He released the controls and turned to Dayton, “What do you think?”

“It’s enormous!” Dayton said with wide eyes, “How big is it?”

The General thought a moment, “About two kilometres wide in the centre, though it has a rounded diamond design. It’s about the same distance high and about twelve kilometres long. Not the biggest ship there has ever been, not even in the Army, the Battle Carriers are more than five times as large”.

“There’s no way you’d be able to land something that big, right?”

The General shook his head, “Oh no, these ships stay in space until they’re decommissioned, at which point they end up at one of the shipping graveyards and are often scrapped for parts by scavengers. They’re built-in space considering how much power it’d take for them to get off the ground”.

“It’s bigger than anything I’ve seen before,” Dayton admitted.

The General smiled, “Get used to it, kid, space is a big place”.

The docking bay they were led into was clearly only large enough for two ships. They passed through a force field to enter, and thick blast doors closed behind them as the ship landed gently in the bay and the engines powered down, Dayton’s seat belt automatically releasing.

“Alright, here we go,” said the General. He led the way, Danin at his left flank as they exited the ship, Dayton carrying his bag that he retrieved from the hold as he walked behind them with Yasra.

A few metres from the ramp stood several officers in Military Uniform, including a man who was clearly the Vice General given how he stepped forward before the others.

“A pleasure to have you back on board, Sir, I see your trip was successful,” said the Vice General, nodding to Dayton.

“Yes indeed, “said the General as he waved Dayton forward, “Dayton, this is my second in Command, Vice General Higgory Tena. Higgs, this is Dayton Wayfinder”.

The vice General held out his hand and Dayton shook it, “A pleasure. I’m sorry to hear about the side affects you suffered from the enhancers”.

Dayton gave a wry smile, “Thank you, Vice General”.

“No other side effects?” though he directed the question more at Yasra.

“None so far, but given he still has more injections in coming, I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility,” said the Doctor.

“Don’t put yourself down so much, Yas,” said the Vice General, “You’re a brilliant Doctor, are you seriously going to transfer from one incident?”

Yasra frowned, “I consider it a personal failure, I intend to correct it”.

Given Yasra’s sharp determination, the Vice General realised he wasn’t going to change the man’s mind and turned to Dayton, “I hope he’s worth the detour then”.

Clearly a comment about Dayton, not to him.

“Higgs, report,” said the General as he began walking away, the other officers trailing them. Danin and Yasra remained on either side of Dayton for a moment as the area cleared.

“He doesn’t like me,” Dayton observed.

“He’s known the General as long as I have,” said Danin, “And the team that has followed the General all that time is his family. He doesn’t like it when his family splits up or is threatened”.

Dayton sighed. Even without a family of his own, he supposed he could understand that.

“Come on, I’ll show you around and get you settled,” said Danin, “You know how the Stardate System, works, yes?”

“Everything in space follows the Galactic Stardate Calendar where there are twelve months and forty days in each month. Every planet has its own Calendar to map its own time,” Dayton said.

“Right,” Danin nodded, “Current Stardate?”

“1.38-7447.5.36,” said Dayton, “Equivalent to Earth’s May 31st, 2051”.

“Or Hedelian 5’s early-sixth month,” said Danin, “They adopted the same 40 day, 12 month years as the Stardate, but their days are 30 hours long instead of 24. We’ve got 92 of our days, 73 of theirs, to get you to the Academy, and you’ll be having your second and third enhancer injections on the 40th and 80th days respectfully”.

Dayton nodded in acknowledgement as they walked, Yasra waving them goodbye.

“While on the ship, please only go to the common areas unless escorted by an officer. You are stationed in one of the Guest Quarters on Deck Fourteen, which means you’ll have a lot of empty rooms around you. Decks Eighteen to Twenty and One to Twelve are off limits to anyone but Ship Personnel, and even then some areas are restricted to them, so no wondering to those. Deck Seventeen has the Medical Bay where you can go to see Yasra, though please only go if you have an appointment or he has requested to see you. It’s seen as very unprofessional otherwise.

“The Mess Hall is on Deck Fifteen, along with the Artificially Grown Gardens that are a Recreational Area, you are free to roam those, though watch the Yarker Birds, they’re a bit like pigeons or seagulls from earth, they’ll take any food you have on you thanks to the crew feeding them”. Danin was clearly disgusted by this practice, so Dayton said nothing on the subject.

“I would recommend you go to the Training Halls on Deck Sixteen in order to get better acquainted with not only techniques you will find common among those in the Academy, but also to get used to your improved physique,” said Danin, “I can assign you a crewman to show you around and help train you if you would like”.

Dayton nodded, unwilling to turn the offer down. Danin nodded, in reply, making a note on the holographic screen of her Link Key before they both stepped into a large, elevator-like room where the door slid shut behind them.

“Get out your Link Key,” said Danin.

Dayton did so, and Danin Guided his hand to a holographic screen near the door. It flashed green along with his Link Key before the buttons for the decks Danin had said he had access to popped up.

“Head to Deck Fourteen”.

Dayton clicked the button and the Elevator moved down.

“What about Deck Thirteen?” asked Dayton.

“That’s we’re your assigned to work,” said Danin. Dayton turned to her. It was not as if he hadn’t expected to be given a job at all, but she had called him a ‘guest’. “This is a Military Vessel and you are being transported to a Military Academy to be enrolled as a Cadet. Seems silly to not have you earn your way,” said Danin, “You’ll be helping with the laundry and other cleaning jobs. You’ll have to report to Staff Sergeant Kedda at 0800 tomorrow morning. He’ll wait for you at the elevator doors.

The doors opened before them and Danin stepped out, walking a few metres down a hall before she stopped at one of the first doorways, indicating for Dayton to use his Link Key again. The door slid open, revealing a simple room with a bed on one side and a small desk on the other, another two doors marking a cupboard and bathroom. There was no window considering they seemed to be on the internal part of the ship, “Your Quarters,” said Danin, “If you’ll drop your things, we can head down to the Mess Hall for lunch if you want”.

“You don’t need to be anywhere?” asked Dayton. He knew she was highly ranked.

Danin waved a hand, “My Vice can handle another hour while I have Lunch”.

Dayton nodded, “That would be nice then”.