Terran Confederation - Jeremiah - 1. Chapter 1

Jeremiah placed his hand on the scanner and spoke his name when prompted, “Lieutenant Junior Grade Jeremiah Declan Samuels.”

“You are cleared to proceed to the flight line, sir,” a young corporal said somewhat stiffly.

Jeremiah slowly made his way to the hanger where the newest shuttle in the fleet was waiting. He had been ordered to fly it to the Albert Einstein Space Launch Facility outside of Tucson, Arizona. While he got to fly as the commander from the Bloom Lake Spaceforce Base in Nevada, he would actually be a passenger on the same shuttle to Outreach Station. Outreach rested at the L2 Lagrange point for Earth and Moon and all traffic to and from the planet was routed through the station.

He had to go through another security checkpoint before he was allowed on board the spacecraft. After dropping his bags off in the cockpit, he grabbed the datapad and went back outside to do the checklist inspection prior to liftoff. After he completed that he went back to the cockpit and did the preflight checklist.

A middle-aged man came into the cockpit at that point. “At ease Lieutenant. I am here to be your copilot. This is your aircraft.”

“Yes sir. Welcome aboard, sir.”

“Thank you, Lieutantant. My name is Commander Justin MacMillan. I will be the flight officer for this aircraft after you deliver her to Einstein.”

“Yes sir, I was briefed.”

“I’m glad to see someone was. I was unable to get any information on your file. Are you even old enough to be in the Spaceforce?” the man asked a little snottily, getting a good look at the teenager in charge of the aircraft.

“Yes sir, I am,” Jeremiah replied in a detached voice.

“What is your flight rating then?” the man demanded.

“Delta, sir,” steel slipping into his voice.

The man paled and shut up. Delta Flight Status meant that Jeremiah was active Special Forces and had been in combat.

“What is your Fleet Specialty?” the man asked much more respectfully.

“Jumper, sir.”

“Well shit. My apologies Lieutenant. I have been a real ass.”

“Yes sir.”

“You are going up to Fleet training prior to deployment to an Explorer ship then?”

“Something like that sir. I can’t really discuss it.”

“How long have you been in?”

“All my life sir. I was born with my Psionic powers active. I have lived on this base all of my life. Except for training or missions, this is where I have been. They have pushed my training along as quickly as they can. I can also say that I have been instrumental on the Spirit Project.”

“The Spirit Class ships represent the most advanced technology that the Terran Confederation has ever fielded. How are you involved in that?” the man asked shocked.

“Aside from being a Pilot and Jumper, I am also an Artificial Intelligence expert. Due to peculiarities with my body, I only require about two hours of sleep per night. It has allowed me to do multiple specializations.”

“Impressive.”

“Thank you, sir. Preflight checklist has been completed. Lightning to Tower. Request clearance for combat lift-off.”

The tower operator’s eyebrows raised and he turned to look at where the shuttle was moving out of the hanger. “Cleared to proceed on runway two-niner.”

“Acknowledged.”

“Computer, inertia stabilizers to maximum.”

“Inertia stabilizers are at full power. Pilot Restraint System activated.”

Looking at the man next to him, who had paled considerably, “Are you ready sir?”

He merely nodded.

Jeremiah smiled and moved the control sticks to the full power position and then triggered the execute command which released the power to the engines all at once. The shuttle jumped from standstill to three times the speed of sound in less than eight seconds. The inertia stabilizers kept them from being turned into jelly.

In very little time he brought them to a cruising altitude of 20,000 meters. Shortly after that, they were hailed.

“Shuttle Acheron, this is Outreach Station Control. Please respond.”

“This is Shuttle Acheron, over.”

“There has been a slight change in plans Lightning. Please alter course immediately and proceed to Outreach Station, Ultraviolet Clearance. Command authorization is being submitted on a subchannel to your AI for confirmation.”

“Acknowledged.”

“What’s going on?”

“According to orders, my presence is urgently required by command and I would guess that someone very important is on the station and needs to be back on Earth in a hurry. Perform the pre-space checklist Commander,” he ordered as he ran through his own check sheet.

“Everything checks out,” he replied after looking everything over.

“Computer, plot best-speed course to Outreach and send the flight path to Outreach Control.”

“Task Complete. Rotate to 90 degrees, increase pitch to 75 degrees.”

Jeremiah complied, while deploying the boosters. He throttled up to full power and then hit the boosters.

“Orbital Insertion Boosters activated.”

The acceleration vastly increased and very quickly the shuttle slipped the bonds of the upper atmosphere and entered the crowded space in lower orbit.

Jeremiah felt time slow down as he took in the majestic blue beauty of his home world. They floated briefly before the artificially gravity on the shuttle increased to at least keep them in their seats.

Jeremiah came back to reality and his need to be on the station. He changed this trajectory to allow them to slingshot around the moon and towards Outreach Station, some 61,500 KM past the far side of the moon.

It took a little over an hour using the gravimetric drive before Jeremiah had to initiate a deceleration burn for docking maneuvers at Outreach. It was the first time he ever docked the shuttle and Commander MacMillan was nice enough to offer tips while he was doing so.

“Docking complete. Airlock is now clear,” the computer informed them both.

“I need to report to Command,” Jeremiah said. “Can you please see to the refueling?”

The Commander nodded, happy not to important enough to have the brass on his ass.

Jeremiah met a Master Sergeant as soon as he cleared the airlock. The man was clearly a Spaceforce Marine from the 109^th Special Forces Battalion.

“Sir, Admiral Sukolav wishes to see you immediately. He asked that I escort you straight to him to make sure that you don’t run into any trouble along the way.”

“I see. Lead the way Sergeant,” Jeremiah said flatly.

Jeremiah ended up with a short whirlwind tour of the facility as the Master Sergeant paraded through different areas until they reached the hardened Operations Deck. He was then led to a secure office where he was told to go in and the Master Sergeant turned to prevent anyone else from getting near the door.

Jeremiah stepped in front of the Admiral and saluted. “Reporting as ordered, Sir.”

“At ease, Lieutenant. We needed to have a discussion before I turned you loose on Europa. I realize this will be the first time that you have been exposed to young men of your own age en mass. I also understand that with your unique Psionic capabilities, you will likely form a deep bond with one or more of them. Of course, the reasoning behind all that is still fully classified and they will not know at Europa Station. ”

“Yes sir.”

“Your standing orders have not changed. You need to use your own judgment on whether or not you need to use lethal force. You still have your dna-locked side-arm?”

“Yes sir!”

“Excellent. I’m sorry for the rushed decision to move you off from Earth. I realize that we gave every indication that you would remain there for a number of years. Unfortunately, we do not feel we have the time to wait. The Confederation Council has ordered that we accelerate the Spirit Project to be ready as soon as we possibly can. This means that we will need to rely on you even more than we have been for the Artificial Intelligence development for the Spirit Class Ships. The Spirit of Dawn is nearly ready to move from the shipyards to the dry docks for outfitting. The original AI for the ship self-terminated and they are now using the prototype that you developed. You’ll need to interface with it to speed its development. After that we’ll need to learn to clone the AI’s for the other ships. While you are at Europa doing real flight training and ship training, we will be relying on you to get the Spirit Artificial Intelligence to a combat-ready state.”

“My exposure to others is going to be significantly higher than ever before. I am not sure that I will be able to keep everything under control and complete all the tasks you have assigned sir,” Jeremiah said bluntly.

The admiral raised one eyebrow. He wished he had a lot more people that were willing to admit that they couldn’t do everything. “Jeremiah, I appreciate the candid assessment, but I am confident that you can do this. It is imperative that you learn to be around others. It was our mistake to keep you from it for so long, even knowing the other possible issues that could arrive from it. I think you will find at least several young men that you will be comfortable around.”

“Yes, sir,” Jeremiah replied clearly.

“Since you are already here, there is no reason for you to return to Earth, just to come back again. I have sent some VIPs back to Earth and you can wait here. While you are waiting you can visit Engineering. Your prototype is currently there. Reintroduce yourself. The Master Sergeant will accompany you until you are ready to board the shuttle.”

“Yes sir.”

“Dismissed.”

Jeremiah left the office and the Master Sergeant joined him. “Where to, sir?”

“The Admiral ordered me to go visit Engineering.”

“The maglev to Engineering is this way sir.”

It took about a half an hour to get to engineering. Once he was there, he was shanghaied by Commander Frakes, the Chief Engineer of Outreach.

“Lieutenant, your reputation precedes you. I did not realize you were still a teenager. Congratulations on your breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence. It is especially impressive, given your age.”

“Thank you sir. Admiral Sukolav ordered me to interface with the Spirit of Dawn’s AI. Is she available?”

“Absolutely. We just need to interface now so that you can help her develop with your implant.”

 

---

Jeremiah spent approximately eleven hours in Engineering before he and the Master Sergeant moved back to the shuttle launch area. The Admiral met him along the way for an update on the Artificial Intelligence. He was pleased enough that he wished Jeremiah good luck and left him.

Jeremiah sat down on one of the many benches and started to mediate and interface with his computer implant while waiting for the shuttle to come back for him. The Master Sergeant moved off to stand some distance away.

Jerry brought his attention back to his surroundings when he noticed a young man approaching him in uniform. He had Ensign insignias on his uniform.

“I thought I would be the highest ranked cadet this year, sir,” a boy chimed in as he dropped onto the seat next to Jerry.

“I am afraid not,” Jerry replied.

“David Tyrel,” the other boy said, sticking out his hand, “my friends call me Dave.”

Jerry grabbed it and shook it, saying, “Jeremiah Samuels, though guys my age call me Jerry.”

“Is it okay if I call you Jerry, sir?”

“I am pretty informal, when I can be. So long as we are alone, it is no problem.”

“Attention Please: All persons heading to Europa Station please begin boarding now,” the computer voice informed those waiting in the lounge area.

Jerry and Dave boarded the shuttle together and sat down in seats next to each other. Jerry noticed that the Master Sergeant had walked on with them. He ignored the man. He turned his attention back to David.

“Thanks Jerry. So, how did you get your rank so early?” Dave asked, his face full of curiosity and interest.

“I was recognized early for my intellectual abilities and they made me run with it. I think they had fun trying to see how much I could cram into my head before I turned sixteen. They then did a full evaluation and assigned me my rank,” Jerry explained his cover story.

“That sounds like it was a pain in the ass.”

“It had its moments.”

“Why did you choose Flight School?”

“Flight School was chosen for me, as I also tested out with high Jumper potential.”

“Jumper? Excellent! I am too and I think exploring the galaxy has got to be the best career path possible,” David cheered enthusiastically.

Jerry sensed interest in the excitement as well. “Do you have any other Psionic capabilities?”

David blushed briefly before nodding.

“Have you had much training yet?” Jerry asked while filtering out the burst of emotion that David was experiencing.

“I’ve only had basic grounding, centering and shielding.”

“I am an authorized trainer in some areas, if you get stuck and would like assistance,” Jerry offered solemnly.

“That would be great. I feel a comfortable vibe from you,” David offered, while blushing again.

“We do have some synergetic powers.”

“Are you two fairies going to stare at each other the entire trip? If so, I don’t think I’ll be able to hold my lunch down,” interrupted a mountain of a young man from several seats over as he walked towards the pair.

“I didn’t realize that the jarheads were on this shuttle as well,” David snarled.

“It would stand to reason that all recruits heading to Europa for military training would ride in the same shuttle,” Jerry offered.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion pipsqueak,” the guy snapped back.

“You are to address me as Sir or Lieutenant, Recruit,” Jerry corrected, whilst not standing up.

“They gave a little boy like you rank?” the mountain scoffed loudly, gathering everyone’s attention.

“Spaceforce Command never gives anyone anything. Go away before I am required to use force,” Jerry dismissed the bully.

The young man, obviously not the brightest light in the sky, reached down to grab Jerry. Jerry’s training took over as he flew up and knocked the guy back a few feet in the process.

“You’re dead boy!” the idiot yelled in frustration.

“Please cease immediately. I cannot disable you without causing you serious injury,” Jerry warned as he blocked all attack attempts.

Jerry sensed another moving behind him to help his attacker and Jerry wordlessly used his powers to fling the other boy sharply into the bulkhead, where the boy broke his nose and sprayed blood all over the wall before slumping into unconsciousness. Every other soul on the shuttle moved as far away from Jerry as they could get after his blatant and powerful demonstration of Psionic abilities. The few people that had Psionics that were on board all felt the movement of power and appreciated the finesse that controlled it.

The use of power also attracted the attention of the Master Sergeant, who was already making his way towards the fight. He had a lot of experience working next to fully trained Psionicists and he had rarely seen such fine control. It momentarily stopped his progress and he studied the young man he spent all day with without realizing he was so dangerous.

Jerry continued to block, though he was now adding twists and jams to try to force his opponent to give up. He did not initiate any offensive moves.

“Hold still you little shit!” the bully yelled in frustration.

Jerry changed tactics and when the next attempt of the bully to hit him was caught. Jerry then brutally broke the young man’s arm and when he screamed in pain he wiped his legs out from under him and then kicked him in the chin, silencing the screaming.

David grabbed a hold of Jerry and pulled him back, “Jerry!”

Jerry was surprised and almost responded brutally but stopped at the last second when he registered that David was definitely not intending him any harm. Jerry relaxed into David and did not move as he watched the resulting chaos of the mess he stopped.

“Lieutenant, Ensign, sirs, please come this way,” the Master Sergeant demanded.

Both boys went with the sergeant without saying anything.

“Why did you break his arm at the end sir?” the Sergeant asked carefully.

“I have standing orders to use deadly force to defend myself. I did not feel that deadly force was required, but I needed to send a message to others that my smaller size does not denote any weakness that should be exploited.”

“Standing orders?” the Sergeant asked in surprise.

“I’m afraid that I cannot discuss my orders, but you can confirm them through Central Command.”

“Passphrase?” the Sergeant asked, pulling out his datapad.

“March thunder,” Jerry responded.

The Sergeant dutifully punched in the passphrase and his datapad filled with Jerry’s picture, rank, name and one highlighted standing order, “Officer is hereby authorized and required to use any and all force required to defend his person. All other obligations are suspended in pursuit of this order.”

It took less than one minute before the pad flared to life and a very disgruntled looking old man with Admiral Stars on his shoulderboard appeared.

“Master Sergeant, you haven’t even left the dock yet. What the hell is going on,” the man ordered demanded sharply.

“Sir, there was a bullying incident on board the Europa Shuttle in which the Lieutenant used force to subdue his attacker.”

“There was no damage to the Lieutenant?” the Admiral glared sharply out of the screen.

“No, sir. The bully will be spending a long time in medbay, however.”

“He was not killed, then?”

“No, sir.”

“Good. Give him the pad please.”

Jerry took the pad, “Sir.”

“This is merely to remind you that I would prefer you did not kill any students, if it can be avoided.”

“Yes sir. I did not use deadly force on my attacker although I did use more force than strictly required to convey a message. The Sergeant has indicated to me that he feels that I completed my objective, sir.”

“Carry on. Please hand the pad back to the Sergeant.”

“Sir.”

“See to it that you personally escort the Lieutenant and anyone that he becomes protective of to the Commandant’s office upon arrival. Admiral Sukolav out.”

“I’m sorry to drag you both into this further Sergeant, Ensign.”

“May I ask what is going on sir?” the Sergeant asked.

“I am a unique case and I’m afraid that I have a large amount of high level interest in every move I make.”

“The Admiral just authorized you to kill anyone that was giving you trouble,” David said, staring at Jerry in surprise.

“Actually, I’ve had that authorization for a long time. Today he asked that I avoid it if possible.”

“What did he mean about protective?” the Sergeant asked.

Jerry looked down in embarrassment before looking up and replying, “I have a tendency to gravitate towards those with compatible Psionic skills.”

“And the protection?”

“I tend to be overly protective of those that are compatible.”

“I suppose that will make your schooling more interesting. If you would not mind, I would like for the two of you to sit up front where I can keep an eye on you. It will make things easier when I escort you to the Commandant’s office.”

“Of course, Sergeant,” Jerry replied agreeably.

 

---

The rest of the flight went without incident. David and Jerry spent the time getting to know each other a little better. The Sergeant spent much of his time keeping an eye on the two young officers. They docked without incident and once the bay was pressurized, all the other students left the vessel. As soon as they were clear, the Sergeant escorted the two officers off the ship and through the maze of corridors to the Commandant’s office. They were shown in immediately.

David and Jerry came to attention together, with the Sergeant only slightly out of synch.

“At ease.”

All three went to standing easy.

“I have been briefed by Admiral Sukolav. Even so, the vast majority of your file remains classified. I can’t say that I like having such a mystery on my hands. Central Command was as clear as they have ever been on anything. Since you two have already qualified for and have received your commissions, you will be housed separately from the rest of the trainees. Following the suggestion of Command, you will be roomed together. Mr. Samuels, you are to strictly follow your orders. I would appreciate it if you did not kill any of my students.”

“Sir, that option is always the last resort.”

“The bully you encountered, one recruit James Hopkins, is recovering and will be spending his first month in the brig.”

“Sir.”

“Sergeant, if you could show them to their quarters,” the commandant said in dismissal.

“This way sirs,” the Sergeant directed.

 

---

The quarters were in the Officer Barracks. They were given a small room with two beds, two dressers, two desks, and one bathroom. It was very utilitarian.

“Now that we are completely alone…” David began.

“You want to know what overly protective means?” Jerry finished.

“It has peaked my interest.”

“The staff scientists at Command feel that it is a heretofore undiscovered Psionic skill. They compare it to the ability of a pack of wolves to know its members and the Alpha to lead. The sense of pack, so to speak.”

“So, when they say overprotective, they mean like a mother bear protecting her cubs or the Alpha protecting its pack?”

“Yes. It is not conscious on my part.”

“I’m not bothered by it, if that was worrying you,” David informed him quietly.

Jerry nodded.

It very quickly became time for the two young men to go to sleep. They each selected their beds and stripped to their small clothes. They both fell asleep quickly.

Jerry woke up to rustling a few hours later. He realized that it was David and he was quite restless. After listening for ten minutes he clicked his tongue a couple of times to get David’s attention and he lifted up his sheet and blankets in invitation. David did nothing for a few moments before he hopped up and climbed into bed with Jerry. Jerry didn’t say anything and he turned on his side, facing away from David. David took the invitation to spoon up with him. Both boys were quickly back asleep.

The next day, both boys got up and took turns in the shower. They never discussed the sleeping arrangements. They reported to the student mess hall and met up with many of their new fellow classmates. Jerry sat down across from David and very carefully observed all the boys and girls around them.

“What ships are you already flight qualified for, sir?” David asked after a few minutes of silence.

“I’m qualified for all the single occupant fighters and bombers and the standard shuttle. My primary mission is to train on the jump capable ships, however. I already have over five hundred hours in the Dreadnaught Simulator as well.”

“That is a lot of simulator time. Have they given you any indication of where you will be placed in the Fleet?”

“Command has indicated that my eventual place in the Fleet will be in a Heavy Cruiser assigned to jump route exploration. That is why I spent so much time in the Dreadnaught Simulator. I’ve had nothing else to do the last few years except my studies. Command kept adding simulators, so I kept flying them. There is a reason why I already have my Lieutenant JG rank.”

An Instructor, a Lieutenant Commander, walked by at that moment. He didn’t recognize the two young officers sitting with all his new students. Instead of doing the polite, and safe, thing, he simply grabbed a hold of Jerry’s hand and passed his scanner near it. Since Jerry was equipped with his own computer, the chip knew that the scan was not authorized. It triggered the alarms in self-defense.

Lieutenant Commander John Sheppard’s scanner unit let out a tremendously loud wail that drew everyone’s attention before it started repeated in a very loud voice, “Unauthorized Scan in Progress. Please detain the person using this device.” It immediately started repeating itself. The Commander had no time to respond before a weapon was pointed directly between his eyes by the boy he had been attempting to scan. He had no idea how the boy had moved so fast or where the weapon had come from.

The cadets all scrambled to the far walls away from Jeremiah and the Commander. The doors spilled open at both ends of the room to admit armed troopers. They were making their way directly towards the commander and Jerry. The Commander was still holding the alarming datapad, so the troops focused on him.

As soon as the troops had surrounded the Commander, Jerry engaged the safety on his weapon and placed it back in his holster, hidden under his uniform jacket. You could not tell that it was there and no one would have known unless they just watched him.

The lead trooper, another Master Sergeant, turned towards Jerry. “What is going on Lieutenant?”

“I am not sure Sergeant. This man grabbed my hand while I was eating and scanned it. His datapad immediately emitted an alarm ordering us to detain him. I complied with the order.”

“May I scan you sir?” the Sergeant asked, holding up his own device.

“Of course,” Jerry replied raising his hand so it could be scanned.

“Lieutenant Junior Grade Jeremiah Declan Samuels, age sixteen. Armed. Weapons Authorization Delta. Unarmed Combat Delta. Flight Authorization Delta. Security Clearance Ultra Violet. Addition data classified.”

The Sergeant was standing in dumfounded shock. As a security officer, his pad was geared towards providing information he needed to know about a person. This was typically combat information so that he could evaluate the danger of someone if they went rogue or their use in an emergency. “Delta” designation meant active duty special forces. “Delta” also meant that the kid had killed in combat. That alone was enough to make his guts turn to water. Unfortunately, the security clearance nearly rattled him. Ultra Violet was the highest clearance he was aware of. It was usually reserved for very high level people, like a planet’s governor or the President of the Confederation. Obviously, there was a hell of a lot more to the kid than met the eye.

“Perhaps we should go visit the Commandant?” Jerry offered.

“Yes sir,” the Sergeant agreed. At his gesture, two larger men grabbed a hold of the Commander and they all marched to the Commandant’s office.

They were escorted in immediately.

“I was not expecting to see you back here so soon Lieutenant. Is there a problem?”

“I am sorry sir, but the Lieutenant Commander’s datapad went haywire when he grabbed a hold of my arm and scanned it.”

“He did not ask for your permission first?”

“No sir.”

“Commander?” the Commandant prompted.

“I saw him sitting with the new cadets and I did not recognize him, sir.”

“I see. I have told you before about inappropriate bullying behavior. You should be aware that Mr. Samuels is under orders to use lethal force to defend his person. I would not recommend anyone just grabbing him.”

Both the Commander and the Sergeant turned very white.

“Mr. Samuels, you are dismissed and free to return to your duties. Sergeant, you and your men can go. Mr. Sheppard, the two of us require another talk.”

Jerry stood at attention and left with precise military steps. The Sergeant followed him with his men.

“Sir?” he asked as soon as they were back in the main corridor.

“Yes Sergeant?”

“I hope I didn’t offend you in any way.”

“Of course not Sergeant. You were just doing your duty,” Jerry replied to him, giving him a gentle smile.

“We do our daily workouts at 06:30 if you would like to join us, sir,” the Sergeant offered.

Jerry’s face lit up, “Thank you Sergeant! I look forward to spending more time with you and your troops.”

“Excellent, sir. We will see you in the morning.”

“Definitely.”

Jerry returned to the dining hall to finish a quick meal before following all the cadets to the main lecture hall. The cadets were giving him sidelong looks of surprise and suspicion. He ignored it. They all sat down, filling the hall.

“Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Europa Command School. The Terran Confederation has accepted you as officer trainees to staff our ships of the line. You represent the elite human forces. All of you have some form of flight experience. Some of you already have your flight qualifications on a number of vessels. Some of you have not had simulator training yet. There are two students in the room that are already officers.” Every turned to look at David and Jerry. They both sat with impassive looks on their faces.

“Everyone here will be learning at different paces and doing different things. Ensign David Tyrel and Lieutenant JG Jeremiah Samuels will be training as Jumpers. Lieutenant Samuels has also been cleared as an instructor for Psionic gifts. I believe some of you witnessed a demonstration he gave on the shuttle trip in.”

A lot of wide eyes turned and looked at Jerry again as they recalled how easily he had tossed around the bully’s compatriot.

“Command has also ordered me to reveal that Lieutenant Samuels has spent parts of the last three years as an instructor of unarmed combat at the Bloom Lake Force Ops Training Facility on Earth. He has four service commendations from Terran Confederation Intelligence Service Command. At sixteen, he has done more and seen more than many of you will in your entire careers. The purpose of my revealing this all to you is so that you are fully aware of the consequences of your actions. He has already proved his value to the Confederation. What will you do?”

The rest of the introduction passed by in a blur and Jerry found himself drifting along the corridor afterwards.

“Did you really do all that sir?” a rather small young man asked as he matched pace with Jerry.

Jerry smiled, setting aside his discomfort. “Yes.”

“Do you think that I could learn self-defense, sir?” the boy asked quietly.

Jerry stopped in one of the many nooks along the corridor and the young man followed him. “Do you have any Psionic abilities?”

“Yes sir,” the boy replied with a slight grimace.

“Have you had much training yet?” Jerry asked, sensing the boy’s increasing discomfort.

“My instructor and I did not get along very well and I was not eager to be near him. My training suffered because of that.”

“Have you been assigned anyone here yet as a trainer?”

“Not that I’ve been told sir.”

“May I?” Jerry asked pointing at the boy’s hand.

The boy was confused, but raised his hand to Jerry. Jerry immediately placed his hand over the implant which allowed his implanted sensors to read the chip. The data was quickly integrated into his internal computer and outputted to his heads up display.

“Billy Jones. You have a very high Psionic Assessment. You were far more powerful than your initial instructor and he was uncomfortable trying to teach someone with so much more potential than him. You have been assigned to me, pending my evaluation.”

“How?” started to ask in dumbfounded surprise.

“How did I get all that? I have a computer implant. I can do quick lesson now and see where you are, if you would like.”

“If you wouldn’t mind sir,” Billy answered quietly.

“It’s no problem. Come back to my quarters with me. We’ll need some solitude.”

Jerry led Billy back to his quarters. David was there, reviewing information at his desk. “David, I need to give Billy a quick psionics lesson. Please do not disturb us.”

“No problem, sir.”

“You can both call me Jerry when we are alone.”

“No problem Jerry,” David corrected.

“Over here Billy. I need you to relax. Can you ground and center yourself?”

“Yes.”

“Please do so and lower your shields, as much as you can. Take my arms,” Jerry said, laying his hands onto his legs, palms up.

Billy grasped his arms palm down, so they had a firm grip on each other's arms. Jerry immediately evaluated Billy’s grounding and found it adequate. His shield only came down partially. It was enough for Jerry to slip in and gently lower it for him. Jerry took control and Billy had a moment of dizzying motion as they moved around in the ethereal plain of the mind. Jerry was now standing behind him with Billy leaning back against his chest. Jerry’s arms were wrapped gently around him.

“I’m going to show you a little trick. Don’t worry if you don’t get it right now. It may take a few tries with me helping you. After that, I think you’ll be able to train with anyone. Ready?”

“Yes.”

“When grounding, you need to dig as deep as you can. Picture yourself growing roots deep into the bedrock beneath your feet. Pretend that there is a strong wind trying to pick you up and you have so stand straight and tall, without holding on to anything. The only thing that can hold you is your connection to ground. Ready?”

“Yes.”

The scene changed around them again. There was wind blowing around and they were standing on an empty plain. “Dig your roots in as deep as you can.”

Billy struggled and Jerry kept chanting “Dig deeper,” as his physical presence faded.

Billy struggled as the wind picked up.

“There is only you and ground. You must dig deep to hold against the wind,” Jerry whispered from all around Billy.

Billy was slammed hard by strong gusts, but he held tight. He could feel his ground and it was strong. As he developed the confidence that it would hold, the wind became even stronger. He did not bend and he did not yield. The winds died down and Jerry’s voice whispered, “I knew you could do it. You just have to dig deep and find your ground.”

The world spun and they were together again on a flat space in a vision of white. “You have learned what true ground is. You’ll need to practice, but you’ve felt what you’ve been missing. I’m going to put your shields back and we’re going to end this lesson. We’ll talk then. Ready?”

“Yes.”

Jerry quickly replaced Billy’s shields and raised his own as he collapsed their shared world. They both suddenly blinked as they released hands in the real world. Jerry looked around and was pleasantly surprised when David handed him and then Billy a glass of water.

“How long?” Jerry asked.

“You guys were in trance for two hours.”

“Really?” Billy asked.

“Yes. Quite the lesson though. I could feel the power surges.”

“Could you?” Jerry asked, raising his eyebrow in surprise.

“Yup,” he replied with a shrug.

“We are more in tune than I had realized. You will need to have some lessons with me as well.”

“I look forward to it,” David replied with a smile.

“Are you okay Billy?” Jerry asked, turning his attention back to his pupil.

“Yes. I feel better than I can ever remember.”

“I’m not surprised. You have a lot more power than most people and it requires a special level of grounding or you get out of whack.”

“I can’t thank you enough for teaching me.”

“My pleasure.”

“Will you be able to train me for all my Psionics?”

“I’m not sure what Command has in mind beyond the initial evaluation. I am qualified to train you, however.”

“How often should I practice?”

“All the time. We’ll go through this lesson again tomorrow. It is really the most important lesson of all.”

“Thank you Jerry.”

“My pleasure,” Jerry replied as he led Billy to the door. Billy gave him a quick smile and was on his way.

Jerry closed the door and leaned against it for a few moments.

“Is he another compatible boy?” David prompted.

“Yes. I will have to keep a closer eye on him.”

“I will help, if you’d like,” David offered.

Jerry whipped his head around to look at David closely before nodding. “It is not going to be easy for me to deal with, as I meet more people. I would imagine that was one of the things that Command had in mind when they sent me here.”

“Have you been fairly isolated before this?”

“I have been kept away from most young Psionic users. Well, more accurately, anyone that wasn’t fully trained and capable of strong shields. I spent most of my time at the Force Ops training center at Bloom Lake in Nevada, USA. It is one of the most secure facilities in all of the Confederation.”

“Is it as mysterious as they say?”

“Everything about the base is classified. It is more mysterious that any of the conspiracy theorists can come up with, to be honest.”

“How is it that you have such a high security clearance with you being so young?”

“They consider me a very valuable asset and placing that level of security clearance on me is a way to make sure even strangers know it.”

“Is that like what happened with the Lieutenant commander earlier?”

“That is part of it. Apparently, my id is protected from scans I do not authorize.”

“How is that possible?”

“I think it has something to do with my computer. It has very advanced AI.”

“It is time for dinner.”

The rest of the night went by quickly. They had both received their schedules on their datapads while they were eating. They return to their room and reviewed the course material for the classes that they were assigned for the next day. After a few hours, they decided it was time for bed. Instead of going through what they did the night before, David went rather self-consciously to Jerry’s bed and before he could ask, Jerry lifted the blankets again. David crawled in with a sigh of relief.

 

---

The next few weeks went by in a blur. A routine was established amongst all the students. It quickly became clear that Jerry was highly skilled in anything he applied himself too. It was also equally clear that he had no interest in competing with anyone. He spent all his spare time sparring in the gym with the guard force. He clearly excelled here as everywhere else.

David and Billy both ended up joining in his routine after a few days of increasing blatant hints that it was what Jeremiah wanted from them. As they were both now officially being instructed in Psionics from him, he had plenty of opportunity to guilt them into a daily healthy workout.

During the first two weeks at Europa Station, he was able to put his flight training to practical use by getting officially certified in the Achilles Class Heavy Bomber. The Achilles had small jump engines for in system jumps. It was not only the most agile bomber in the fleet, but also the standard trainer ship for all jumpers. It was capable of carrying up to six personal. Standard staffing was three: Pilot, co-pilot, and weapons officer. While both David and Jeremiah were jumpers, Billy was an ordinance specialist. One of his most powerful Psionic gifts was foresight. He could see several seconds ahead and it weighed things heavily in his favor in timing a bombing run.

After six weeks of being moonside, Command ordered the three young men to do a simulated bombing run to the moon Phobos, orbiting Mars. They were to leave the Jupiter system and jump to Mars. After scanning the Phobos for a special transmitter, they were to record the message and jump back.

“Are you two ready?” Jerry asked, after he completed the prelaunch checklist.

“Copilot check.”

“Weapons, check.”

“Europa Control, this is Rogue 1. Request clearance for automated launch sequence.”

“Launch cleared at your discretion.”

“Computer, initiate automatic launch sequence,” Jerry ordered.

“Five…Four… three… two… one… Launch Go.”

The agile bomber blasted down the launch accelerator under the accelerator’s power. The launcher was two kilometers long and was sufficient to fling them into orbit without using any of the onboard fuel. As they breached Europa’s thin atmosphere, they banked to place the bottom of the ship towards Jupiter.

“Scanners are clear sir. There is no traffic in our vicinity,” David said from the copilot seat.

“Radiation shields are normal. Deflectors are ready for sub-light travel. Defense shields and weapons are on stand by,” Billy reported from the weapons control seat behind both pilots.

“Acknowledged. Full thrusters engaged,” Jerry replied as he moved the stick, causing the bomber to break orbit of Europa, moving away from Jupiter.

“Gravimetric drive ready for In System Navigation,” the computer reported.

Jerry moved the throttle control to full on the gravimetric drive. The ship jumped forward and quickly accelerated up to three-quarters the speed of light. Had they wanted to skip jumping, it would have taken approximately eighty minutes to reach Mars from their current location. Fortunately for them, they had jump engines.

Jerry reached out with his psionic jumper power and located an entrance to jump space. He rapidly punched in the data into his computer entry terminal including where he wanted to exit jump space. After a few quick clicks, he activated the jump engine.

The three young men, and the small ship they were on, stretched and then disappeared into jump space. The trip in jump space was nearly instantaneous for them and they blinked back into normal space about one hundred thousand clicks from their target of Phobos.

Before they had a chance to move in for their simulation run, reality broke in.

“Lieutenant, I have multiple contacts. They are bogies,” Dave shouted, switching immediately to military protocol.

“Cadet, full shields, full power to weapons,” Jerry snapped instantly.

“Shields are to full, but weapons are available in simulation mode only,” Billy answered, his voice near panic.

“Computer, switch all systems to combat mode and deactivate training systems, authorization Samuels-Epsilon-Omega-Niner,” Jeremiah ordered.

“All systems active. Alert: Mars Colony is broadcasting a general distress signal on the AI Command Network. They say that the normal communication channels are blocked.”

“Are we clear of the jamming?”

“It would appear so for the moment, but we are getting closer rapidly,” Dave replied looking up from his command screen.

“Broadcast a Code Black Mars Colony on Ultraviolet One, include all information we have.”

“What do we have that is effective against Lewerren Saucer ships?”

“We have twelve class four SRAM torpedoes. Training says that we should be able to do a hard kill on six saucers if we can get in without them taking us out with their mindgames.”

“My shields should be sufficient to protect all three of us if we link together.”

It took only a few seconds for them to mesh their shields into a cohesive whole. It was one of the things they practiced during training. It allowed Jerry to satisfy his pack sense.

:What do we have?:

:It looks like two heavy hitters and three harvest ships.:

:Motherfuckers!: Jerry snarled in their minds.

:We are being jammed. They know we’re here!: Dave said.

“Computer, transfer power to forward shields.”

“Shield power increased.”

:They are hitting our shields, trying to get control of us.:

“I have both heavy hitters targeted,” Billy spoke up.

“Fire two torpedoes each on my mark. Mark!”

“Torpedoes away!” Billy yelled.

Jerry immediately jerked the collective to the right and hit the afterburners, causing the ship to bank sharply right and jet off avoiding the heavy plasma weapons that the Lewerren’s preferred. He immediately jerked the stick the other way, causing the bomber to roll and avoid more shots.

Four mega-explosions in quick succession indicated that the torpedoes had hit their marks.

The communications channel exploded open with the loss the capital ships that were jamming.

“This is Mars Dome Three declaring Code Black. We have sustained heavy damage and require immediate assistance. The bombardment has stopped suddenly and this seems to be getting out. We need help.”

“This is TCS Wrath of Sitting Bull. We are on our way with TCS Wrath of Achilles and TCS Wrath of Techumseh. We are two minutes out.”

“Rogue One to Wrath of Sitting Bull. We have taken out two heavy Lewerren Saucers. There are three, repeat three, Harvest Ships in orbit. We are under fire and are taking evasive actions. We don’t know if any of the colonists are on board the Harvest Ships. Over.”

“This is Mars Dome 3. Harvest Ships are empty. Take them out!”

Jerry yanked the collective over again and the agile bomber swung around. He was able to line up with the middle ship as all three started to make jump points to leave. Billy rapidly flung off a SCRAM Torpedo as soon as he had a lock. The torpedo leapt forward and tremendous speed and was sucked into the jump vortex just as the ship was starting to leave. An explosion and a brief rupture in the jump space indicated a successful hit.

“Anything else on scanner?” Jerry asked, visually scanning the visible horizon.

“Nothing sir.”

“Rogue One to Mars Dome 3. I count two dead heavy saucers and one dead harvester. The other two have run for home. Is there anything we can do?”

“Negative Rogue One. Thanks for the help.”

The three heavy battlecruisers arrived jumped into the system in a staggered attack pattern. They spotted the bomber right away as they scanned for hostiles.

“Rogue One, this is Admiral Kilgore, Fleet Command of the Sitting Bull Battlegroup. We got your initial Code Black while we were underway to investigate the loss of communications with Mars. Please report.”

“Admiral, this is Lieutenant JG Jeremiah Samuels in command of Rogue One from the TCS Fleet Academy on a training mission to Phobos. When we jumped into the system on the far side of Phobos, we spotted the Lewerren on scanners. I reported the problem and followed Protocol Nine Ultraviolet Omega Fiver.”

There was a long pause before the Admiral replied, “Please land on Wrath of Achilles for immediate return to Outlook Station.”

“Yes sir.”

“I think I could have lived life comfortably without going through that,” David said.

“You told me again just last week that you wanted to leave Earth to see things. Now you have,” Jerry said quietly.

“Out of this world and into the frying pan, apparently,” Billy replied dryly.

“Indeed,” Jerry agreed.

The End

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