that thousands of people were disembarking on colony boats every day, while freighters returning from the colonies were bringing goods and materials back. The United Nations had been trying to slap together an interstellar monetary committee when ships fleeing Marvelous brought word of the alien attack.
Now, things were worse. The dollar was really struggling. And jobs—any kind—were not that easy to find. Not when computers and machinery did so much of the manual labor all over the country. Many people were either technicians servicing those computers and machines, or developers, engineers, and programmers who worked on improving and refining the technology that kept much of the human race fed, housed, and clothed.
“What do you do in the Fleet?” I asked O’Donnell.
“Well, before I was Fleet, I was Navy, and when I was Navy, I was a maintenance expert out on one of the submarines. Submarine life is a lot like life on the starships, you know. They snatched up as many of us submariners as they could get their hands on, when the Fleet was initially launched. I did some time converting my skills over to spacecraft, and then I got put into recruiting.”
“Sounds like you don’t stay in one spot too long,” Kaffy said.
“Not so far,” O’Donnell said. “So, can I show you a few videos? Interest you in what the Fleet has to offer?”
“Maybe later,” I said. “We’re going to be late for class if we don’t get something to eat, and soon.”
“Well, that’s fine, but here, let me give you these,” O’Donnell said, handing us all thin little pieces of plastic about the size of a standard credit or debit card. The card was silver, with a holographic logo on it that moved when you faced the card in different directions. The logo appeared to be a hawk or eagle, stylized of course, with its eyes and beak looking fierce. Under the bird was a small globe of Earth, shielded from above by the bird’s protectively-arched wings. The bird’s talons held what appeared to be a sword on the left, and a cluster of rockets on the right.
We mumbled our thanks, and went to sit at a table.
“No way,” Ben said as he slipped bites of school lunch spaghetti into his mouth.
“You’re not interested in going to space?” David asked.
“Not like that,” Ben said, shaking his head.
“I’ve got an older cousin who signed up,” Kaffy said. “He left home three weeks ago. My aunt and uncle don’t hear from him much, though they say he says the training is tough.”
“Military training is always tough,” I said, chewing on a piece of cold garlic bread.
“How would you know?” Tia teased. “Playing war hero in VR isn’t like the real thing, you know.”
I scowled at Tia, and flipped her my middle finger.
She laughed, and up-ended her bottle of fruit juice with her right hand, flipping me back with her left.
“Too bad the mantis aliens aren’t just VR,” David said, his face growing sober. “I mean, really, what do any of us know about the aliens anyway? One colony has been attacked, so far. How many of the others will be attacked? Maybe they’re under attack right now?”
“If it were that bad,” Kaffy said, “Don’t you think they’d be here already? Invading Earth?”
“Maybe,” I said. “Or maybe we just happened to settle some planets that the aliens thought were theirs to begin with.”
“Doesn’t matter now,” Ben said. “War is war. We fight, or we lose.”
“Spoken like a man who just said he’d never go to space as a soldier,” Tia said, turning her sarcasm on our mutual friend.
“Hey, if the battle comes to Earth, I’ll do what I have to, just like everyone else,” Ben said defensively. “I’m just not in a hurry to go up and be roach food, you know what I mean?”
We all nodded our heads.
It was easy to talk options, with the mantis threat almost entirely removed from our daily lives.
Still, I kept looking over my shoulder at the Fleet recruiter.
When I went
Now, things were worse. The dollar was really struggling. And jobs—any kind—were not that easy to find. Not when computers and machinery did so much of the manual labor all over the country. Many people were either technicians servicing those computers and machines, or developers, engineers, and programmers who worked on improving and refining the technology that kept much of the human race fed, housed, and clothed.
“What do you do in the Fleet?” I asked O’Donnell.
“Well, before I was Fleet, I was Navy, and when I was Navy, I was a maintenance expert out on one of the submarines. Submarine life is a lot like life on the starships, you know. They snatched up as many of us submariners as they could get their hands on, when the Fleet was initially launched. I did some time converting my skills over to spacecraft, and then I got put into recruiting.”
“Sounds like you don’t stay in one spot too long,” Kaffy said.
“Not so far,” O’Donnell said. “So, can I show you a few videos? Interest you in what the Fleet has to offer?”
“Maybe later,” I said. “We’re going to be late for class if we don’t get something to eat, and soon.”
“Well, that’s fine, but here, let me give you these,” O’Donnell said, handing us all thin little pieces of plastic about the size of a standard credit or debit card. The card was silver, with a holographic logo on it that moved when you faced the card in different directions. The logo appeared to be a hawk or eagle, stylized of course, with its eyes and beak looking fierce. Under the bird was a small globe of Earth, shielded from above by the bird’s protectively-arched wings. The bird’s talons held what appeared to be a sword on the left, and a cluster of rockets on the right.
We mumbled our thanks, and went to sit at a table.
“No way,” Ben said as he slipped bites of school lunch spaghetti into his mouth.
“You’re not interested in going to space?” David asked.
“Not like that,” Ben said, shaking his head.
“I’ve got an older cousin who signed up,” Kaffy said. “He left home three weeks ago. My aunt and uncle don’t hear from him much, though they say he says the training is tough.”
“Military training is always tough,” I said, chewing on a piece of cold garlic bread.
“How would you know?” Tia teased. “Playing war hero in VR isn’t like the real thing, you know.”
I scowled at Tia, and flipped her my middle finger.
She laughed, and up-ended her bottle of fruit juice with her right hand, flipping me back with her left.
“Too bad the mantis aliens aren’t just VR,” David said, his face growing sober. “I mean, really, what do any of us know about the aliens anyway? One colony has been attacked, so far. How many of the others will be attacked? Maybe they’re under attack right now?”
“If it were that bad,” Kaffy said, “Don’t you think they’d be here already? Invading Earth?”
“Maybe,” I said. “Or maybe we just happened to settle some planets that the aliens thought were theirs to begin with.”
“Doesn’t matter now,” Ben said. “War is war. We fight, or we lose.”
“Spoken like a man who just said he’d never go to space as a soldier,” Tia said, turning her sarcasm on our mutual friend.
“Hey, if the battle comes to Earth, I’ll do what I have to, just like everyone else,” Ben said defensively. “I’m just not in a hurry to go up and be roach food, you know what I mean?”
We all nodded our heads.
It was easy to talk options, with the mantis threat almost entirely removed from our daily lives.
Still, I kept looking over my shoulder at the Fleet recruiter.
When I went
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