Tarik: Entry Level Warfare by K. A. Kerr

let go. His peers told him it was all part of mining, his boss told him he should have known better, and he told himself he would do  better.
    Tarik asked himself ‘what if I had known the rocks had large concentrations of ice?’ It would have changed where he gripped the rock. Then he asked himself ‘Should I have asked if the heat from the rig could affect the rock?’ That had never even occurred to him. Tarik finished his mopping and moved onto the next bathroom considering where he would be today if he only asked the right questions.
    Tarik finished his cleaning duties and went to midday meal, again the Dome  was empty and Tarik  wondered where everyone was hiding. Normally a ship this size would have a crew of hundreds, but so far Tarik  guessed the crew was closer to forty. Several areas of the ship were still blocked off to him; looking at the map he’d say over sixty decks housed computers and machinery. An alert came to him stating that the ship was changing to ball formation and leaving the system shortly, besides a few loud bangs and clanks Tarik  wouldn’t have even noticed the change. Tarik finished his meal and set off to meet his next instructor .
    Tarik entered the training  room just as his countdown reached zero. The room was a glossy black all around him, it extended in a pie wedge from its doorway all the way to the outer wall of the ship, nearly a quarter of a mile from his estimate. Tarik could tell the end of the ship because of the single pane window at the end which showed the red giant as it ate a comet. Two pools of water, on either side of a walkway, looked like they ended in the void beyond. In the middle of that walkway, in all her feminine glory, stood Goddess . Tarik felt anxious to meet her, his excitement batted down repeatedly by her threat of punishment.
    “Come over here.” Goddess ordered. Her voice reminded Tarik  of smoke, doing a fine job of clouding his judgement .
    Tarik walked the pathway only occasionally glancing into the pools. “Come to me.” She said as he was only a few feet away.
    When he was but a few feet away, Goddess kicked Tarik  in the stomach hard enough to cause him to double over. The shot caught him in the solar plexus; Tarik couldn’t help but gasp for air.
    “Follow me.” She said as she started off at a jog for the end of the pools.
    Tarik stood back up and did his best to keep up with her, the pain in his stomach subsided as he neared her. Just then she picked up her pace, leaving Tarik  struggling to keep up again. As Goddess  neared the end of the pool she turned right and took a previously unseen pathway at the end of the pool. Tarik glanced down as he approached the turn to make sure he didn’t fall into the pool, when he looked up again Goddess  was already at the end and continuing on the pathway that extended past the walls and must have surrounded the circumference of the entire ship. With every stride Tarik  took Goddess  left him further behind. Her long legs pumping like pistons, Tarik  admired her backside and pushed himself harder to catch up to her.
    Tarik felt more than saw the pathway incline; as his speed  started to slow he noticed a crest so he pumped his legs hard in hopes of an easier run on a downslope. Reaching the top of the crest he pushed off as hard as he could, now running at top speed  he saw the pathway dip again. Before he knew it Goddess  charged back up at him. Tarik couldn’t slow down and the space was too tight for him to pivot away from her. Goddess  lowered her shoulder and hit Tarik  in the midsection sending him back up the ramp to land on his back. Tarik gasped for air again, holding his ribs all he felt was pain.
    “You're too slow, pick up the pace.” Was all Goddess  said as she turned and started to run along the path again.
    Tarik picked himself back up, felt his knees wobble and quickly sat back down. Using the wall to steady himself he caught his breath and started to run after