Space Cadets by Adam Moon

turned out to be a blood thirsty terrorist.
    “What about the alien ship?”
    “They’ve cracked a bit of the code thanks to that box you identified as a recent add-on. The funny thing is that it looks like the aliens only tried to erase their destination from the banks. They left their departure point, so we know where the alien planet is, more or less.”
    “Are you kidding? What’s the brass going to do about that?”
    He looked at my side and said, “Your stitches are seeping, you idiot. That’s enough questions. You need to lie down and rest.”
    I tried to fight him off but he was stronger than me at that moment.
    I watched him leave the room and as a nurse tended to my stitches; I allowed my mind to ponder the possibilities. If we took the fight to the Bleeders, they’d be surprised. They thought we were a backwoods people incapable of such things as interstellar flight. They thought we’d just stay put until they returned to exterminate us. They would all die for underestimating the human race.

Perspective
     
    When I was strong enough to hold up my own weight, I was given free reign of the camp. It’s funny, but I’ve lived here for my entire life, and only now do I see it in a different light. Maybe it’s because all the cadets either look up to me or else avoid me like I might detonate. Maybe it’s because there aren’t any teachers or classes going on. Maybe it’s because I’ve changed in fundamental ways.
    Stacy Jones was trying to make eye contact with me at lunch time but I ignored her. She’s a sadistic bitch so she probably loves me now that I have blood on my hands. I sat next to Becky Morrison because she’s a nice weirdo. Those people generally repel people like Stacy.
    Danny Jackson, the fake badass of my class, turned away every time I came near him. I think I intimidate him now. I think I always did, but now there’s proof that I’m a tough son of a bitch.
    I couldn’t help myself. I had to go and look in on Mrs. Salazar. I wanted to know her mindset now that she knew the truth: the Enemy was never a hoax. She’d been duped by the Skeptics.
    There was a guard standing outside her door. It was the detention room we get locked in when an instructor had enough of our crap.
    I sheepishly asked if I could have a word alone with her.
    “Sure kid. Without you, this entire facility would be scorched pieces of metal strewn across the surface of Mars. I hear they might give you the Platinum Shield for that.”
    He unlocked the door and said, “I’m gonna take a shit. I’ll be back in half an hour.”
    It was only then that I realized he thought I wanted to have sex with Mrs. Salazar. I was about to correct him but he was already leaving.
    I went inside, a little on edge that the door was unlocked and the guard was gone.
    Samantha Salazar smiled and stood up when I came through the door. “I’ve been asking that dumbass guard to go and get you all day and he refused. I guess he changed his mind.”
    “No. I came here on my own.” But now I know why the guard thought we were an item.
    She sat back on the mattress and motioned for me to take a seat beside her. I refused and defiantly stood two feet in front of her.
    “Would you have killed me if I’d gotten in your way?” I said this with tension in my voice.
    “You did get in the way and I spared you. I like you Jack. I’ve always liked you.”
    “What were you going to do with that ship anyway?”
    She sighed, clearly displeased being off topic. “We were going to use it to destroy as many other ships as possible. It was a suicide mission, really.”
    “How do you feel now that you know you killed for a stupid, false ideal?”
    “I feel terrible for everything I did. I was misled and coerced by the Skeptics. I’m young and impressionable.”
    “I’m not a judge. Save your nonsense for him.”
    “I can’t go to court Jack. They’re going to shoot me. And I know you don’t want to be here either.” She paused to see if